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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27231694">With Your Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletsDaisy/pseuds/VioletsDaisy'>VioletsDaisy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:55:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>48,075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27231694</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletsDaisy/pseuds/VioletsDaisy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A young prince has been set to marry whoever wins a duel monsters tournament. However, when his rival declares to duel for his hand in marriage to combine their countries and then wins, the young prince must try to get himself out of the engagement. But will he want to after seeing his rival for who he is? Only time will tell.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bakura Ryou &amp; Yami Bakura, Honda Hiroto | Tristan Taylor/Otogi Ryuuji | Duke Devlin, Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters. I just fantasize about them and put them into words.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A blond man stood on the balcony of a royal palace, leaning against a marble pillar. His arms were crossed over an extravagant looking green coat while his honey-colored eyes held firm towards the picturesque sunset landscape. In two hours, he'd be betrothed. Thankfully, not to a woman. Coming out to his parents at a younger age seemed to have been his advantage. For he'd be marrying a well-suited man.</p><p>You see, Joey wasn't a typical prince who married the typical princess in an arranged marriage. Besides being homosexual, he decisively believed in true love. Call him silly or an imaginative fool (which had happened to him once or twice) but he just couldn't bring himself to accept being forced to marry someone he didn't know.</p><p>There was only one man that he'd ever considered taking as a husband. His close friend, Duke Devlin.</p><p>Duke was the head of security's son and was next in line to protect the King. He protected Joey and was unwaveringly loyal. Duke was handsome, too handsome for his good. Long black hair – usually tied up in a ponytail over a red band – and bright emerald green eyes. He was every girl or boy's fantasy, and yet Duke was above relationships. Joey had fallen in love and there was no turning back.</p><p>The only parenthetical problem was the T-bag known as Tea Gardner. She was a princess to one of the neighboring countries and was smitten with Duke at first sight. In return, he had fallen for her advances.</p><p>Joey, ever-supportive and loyal, had shown his approval despite his bitter disappointment.</p><p>Tea was eventually caught with a stable boy by Duke during a visit for her birthday. It had been the hardest day for both Duke and Joey. Duke was distraught. Joey was helpless, there was nothing he could do to soothe his heartbroken friend.</p><p>But now, he'd never have the chance to tell Duke how he felt. His betrothal was in just two hours. Duke would go on with his life being miserable and lonely.</p><p>Rubbing at his nose, Joey glared at the silhouette of mountains that the sun had sheltered behind. Why was life so cruel?</p><p>"Hey man, there's only three duels left. Don't you want to watch your future husband's win?"</p><p>The sound of Duke's voice set his heart stammering, his blood running cold. How was Duke so casual, so okay with Joey being married off? Didn't he see what would happen? Didn't he see the consequences? He crossed his arms protectively and searched for a response.</p><p>"Why would I?! This is stupid. I can't believe my parents decided this."</p><p>Duke sighed. They'd had this conversation many times over. "You know why Joey. You're eighteen now, you're supposed to be married. That's the law."</p><p>Joey's hands dropped to his sides, his face agape with disbelief. "You're eighteen and you're not married! Why's it different for me?"</p><p>"Because I'm not the prince. Now come on, your father sent me out here to drag you into the ballroom."</p><p>Joey huffed and turned away from Duke, moving away from his grasp. "I'm not going in there, Duke."</p><p>Duke groaned with frustration. "Come on man, what am I supposed to tell your parents?"</p><p>"That I'm running away and they can kiss my ass."</p><p>Duke moved closer to Joey and placed a hand on his shoulder. Joey tensed under his touch. "It's not going to be that bad. I've been watching the duels and these last contestants are pretty talented."</p><p>Joey shrugged Duke off of him with a fierce glare. "What's being great at Duel Monsters have to do with marriage? Hunh? Nothin'! That's what! It makes no sense, Duke! I'm not doin' this! They can't make me!"</p><p>Duke moved quickly and wrapped his arms around him. Joey melted into his arms and nuzzled his face into his neck. His displaced anger led way to his helplessness and he leaned against Duke for support. "I know, Joey. But I promise it'll turn out alright. I'll be with you no matter what. You'll always have me as a friend."</p><p>Joey relaxed at Duke's words. He hadn't thought of that. Duke would still be there, at least as his friend. Somehow, being betrothed didn't seem so terrible anymore.</p><p>A high-pitched voice called from behind them. The two broke apart to look at the tall man. It was Duke's father. "Another has demanded entrance to your tournament! You have to come see who it is!"</p><p>Duke and Joey exchanged a short, hesitant glance. After a deep breath, Joey relented, allowing Duke to escort him into the dueling hall.</p><p>Scowling with his arms crossed over his chest, Joey entered and felt the tension in the room before anything else. He looked around the room, not understanding why everyone was gawking.</p><p>He finally snapped, one stare pushing him over the edge. "What?!"</p><p>Duke grabbed Joey's arm, directing his attention with a finger pointed in front of them. Joey followed the finger to see a tall man with dark brown hair hanging gently in his eyes, wearing an even more extravagant coat than Joey.</p><p>Joey's mouth went slack and his blood ran cold. He knew that person. Being a child of nobility had him meeting other children of royalty as he grew up. Just like he knew Tea, he knew Seto Kaiba as well.</p><p>They had hated each other from the beginning. Joey's country was an older one, with forgotten rules and inadequate value. What they lacked in riches they possessed in loyalty and respect.</p><p>Kaiba's country was newer with more money than they knew what to do with it. They were strict, but had all the modern technology with the promise of a "dream life". With money and riches came conceited and pompous behavior.</p><p>Both things Joey despised and Seto had them. He was forever taunting and mocking how Joey was an underclass and penniless prince. Joey loathed Seto. The feeling was mutual, from what Seto had shown in the past. So, that brought Joey to one question.</p><p>Why the hell was Seto Kaiba entering his "duel to marry" tournament?!</p><p>"I've come to ask your son for his hand in marriage. If I must duel and win against every single person in the world to do that, I can assure you I will," Seto Kaiba declared to Joey's parents, who looked as shell shocked as anyone at their thrones.</p><p>Joey was visibly shaking with anger and confusion. He breathed through gritted teeth before making his way down through the crowds. "What the hell does that bastard think he's doin'?"</p><p>Duke tried to grab his friend back but didn't reach him in time. Joey faintly heard Duke's footsteps following behind him.</p><p>Joey brushed through the gawking crowd, stomping toward Kaiba and his parents. To hell with his good looks, his money, his kingdom. "Go to hell Kaiba!"</p><p>With eyes alight in amusement and a mocking grin on his face, Seto stood up straighter to look at Joey. "Is that any way to speak to your betrothed, Wheeler?"</p><p>Joey shook with rage, his fists clenched and face red. "You're not in this tournament! So, you're not my anything. I can talk to you however I want! Now get the hell out of my country!"</p><p>"Joey calm down," Duke's voice spoke from behind him, reaching out to snag his shoulder again.</p><p>Joey took a step forward, away from Duke's outstretched hand. "No I will not calm down!" he looked from Seto back at Duke, a hand flung out toward his protector in disbelief. "This asshole thinks he can just march in here and claim me! As if I am a prize! It was bad enough to have to deal with strangers doing that but him?! No! It's not happenin'!"</p><p>"ENOUGH!" The King's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall, making Joey jump.</p><p>In a quieter voice, the King spoke icily, "Now, I'm as surprised as anyone that Prince Kaiba is here and asking of such things, there is a tournament going on that despite my son's beliefs, is quite important. Either duel like the rest of them Prince Kaiba, or I must request of you to leave my country at once."</p><p>Joey spun around in disbelief to look at his father, prepared to argue. The stern expression on the King's face caused him to hesitate. There wasn't going to be any winning with him, Joey deflated furiously. Just like there hadn't been when the whole tournament idea had been brought up. Once again, his life was being played out for him and there was nothing he could do about it. He would just have to sit back and deal with it.</p><p>A small hand gently took Joey's arm and he resisted a flinch. It only took him a moment to recognize his younger sister. She was thirteen and barely up to his shoulder. Her innocent face looked up at him with stunning hazel eyes. "Big brother," she said quietly, trying to reason with him. "Everything works out the way it's supposed to."</p><p>Joey wanted to argue but was quickly beginning to realize that he had no control over his life. Silently, because he didn't trust his words right now, Joey let the small girl lead him over to his throne that sat between his mother's and Serenity's.</p><p>Leaning back on his throne Joey stared ahead as Seto stepped forward to duel. His fancy duel disk, invented by his own fancy company, was strapped to his fancy arm. Joey inwardly sneered.</p><p>Every time he saw a duelist using the newest piece of equipment he restrained the urge to barf.</p><p>As the tournament progressed, Joey fought with himself. He'd never known Seto could duel before and by the Gods, he was incredible. He had all the best strategies, the rarest cards, and knew every combination in the book. Joey could barely keep control over himself when he'd use his most powerful monsters. By the end of the duel, he was almost leaning on the edge of his seat, his heart racing, and adrenaline pumping.</p><p>Then it came down to two. Seto Kaiba and a man that Joey didn't recognize. His fate on the line and in the hands of his enemy, Joey was literally on the edge of his seat. Serenity took Joey's hand to calm him, which helped only a little. He did appreciate Serenity's support but there was only so much he could get in this sort of situation.</p><p>The duel began and the unthinkable happened.</p><p>Seto Kaiba summoned a monster that Joey had only heard about in stories.</p><p>An enormous white dragon stood at attention in attack mode as Seto took his stance to declare his attack. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Use White Lightning!"</p><p>Joey held his breath as the dragon opened its mouth to blow a blinding white arch of lightning towards the last of his opponent's monsters, wiping the rest of the other man's life points out.</p><p>Silence overwhelmed the room after the display of power that Seto Kaiba held. Seto crossed his arms smugly with a smirk, the very air of arrogance.</p><p>Then the room erupted into clapping that soon turned into cheering. Joey gaped at Seto, his body freezing in disbelief. No…</p><p>Seto walked over to the thrones with a triumphant look on his arrogant fancy face. "So, shall I begin planning the wedding?"</p><p>Joey's gaze shifted to his father's sobered look. "I think we both have people to do that for us, wouldn't you agree Prince Kaiba? So, you won the tournament and the right to marry my son. But now, tell me, what is your purpose of coming here tonight?"</p><p>Joey caught Seto's glance before Seto crossed his arms and looked unwaveringly at the King. "I am twenty years old, your majesty. I require a husband myself and I thought, that perhaps, by marrying we could combine our countries. What do you say?"</p><p>Joey stiffened at the confession.</p><p>The King arched an eyebrow as he ran idle fingers through his beard, "What about your father? Shouldn't he be here to announce this himself?"</p><p>Seto seemed to get even colder in his words and features. "My father… is dead. He passed two nights ago and left the throne to me. I am now King of Pious."</p><p>Gasps were sounded throughout the ballroom and the King sat up straighter. "I'm sorry for your loss, but that gave you no right to include my country in your plans. Your father would have disapproved."</p><p>"My father didn't know what he was doing as King. I endeavor to change not only my country but yours as well. Now that I have won your son, you have will have no say about the relationship between our countries. Unless you're going back on your word, Sire?"</p><p>Joey looked over at his father, who had gone silent. He watched his mother take his father's hand, looking as if she was speaking reason with her eyes. Joey just stared at them in horror. They were going to marry him off to Kaiba, he thought. He couldn't believe it. It was as if they didn't even care about his feelings in the slightest.</p><p>The king directed his attention back to Seto Kaiba, then stood before all in attendance. "Very well… You have my blessing and acceptance. However, gaining my son's will be another story. Come, let us celebrate in the dining hall!"</p><p>Murmurs and unease whispered through the crowd. The King turned to his wife and children. "Let us forget this miserable turn of events for a more pleasant evening, shall we?"</p><p>As everyone stood and collectively exited the ballroom, Joey turned his hallowed expression to Kaiba.</p><p>Duke, not to Joey's surprise, took a protective step forward when Seto made a motion to advance toward the Prince.</p><p>"Get out of my way," Seto ordered distastefully.</p><p>Duke glared at him. "You might have won the tournament but you haven't won Joey. Not by a long shot."</p><p>Joey watched Seto's eyes narrow. "I don't care what you have to say, he's my betrothed and I will speak with him, whether you like it or not."</p><p>"I'm his security. I say who will speak with him or not. And I'm telling you to leave."</p><p>"Security?" Seto snorted in derision, "I have a security team twice the size of you."</p><p>Sure that Duke was about to suggest what an ass Seto was, Joey placed his hand on Duke's shoulder to silence him. Joey stepped to Duke's side, his eyes glowering up at Seto.</p><p>"I don't have anything to say to you, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop harassing my friend and leave now. I don't care if you're a king or not."</p><p>Seto's smirk grew wider. "Well, I have something to say to you. I expect you at my palace on Tuesday to begin planning our marriage. It's going to be an oversized ordeal and I need your assistance to make it perfect. There will also be a press release as the new King has won a tournament to marry a prince from another country. You must be there to make an appearance in your new home."</p><p>Joey reddened in the face, his fury returning. "Home?! I'm not living there! If we do have to get married, what if I would prefer you to live here? Huh? What makes you the sole person to make the decisions?"</p><p>Seto quirked an eyebrow up at the blond, his grin creating a twisted, amused look. "Because I'm the new King of Pious. I have to live there. Plus, you're my prize and therefore you will be living wherever I say. Besides, why would I want to live in a dump country such as this one?"</p><p>Even though Duke wanted nothing better than to jump Kaiba for saying such harsh things about his country, he snatched the lunging Joey from attacking. Joey didn't have as much self-control when he got angry.</p><p>"Don't you dare say such things about my country ya bastard! Don't you dare!"</p><p>Seto merely stared back at Joey who was squirming in Duke's arms, kicking and swatting as he tried to get to him. "Whatever. I'm leaving. But remember, you better be there on Tuesday."</p><p>"And what if I'm not?" Joey spat back at Seto, still trying to get Duke to release him.</p><p>Seto smirked. "Then I'll just have to come get you myself." He spun on his heel and walked swiftly out of the great hall.</p><p>It wasn't until Joey had finally calmed down that Duke released his grip.</p><p>"The hell you will," Joey grumbled after him as if to chase Seto off with one final insult.</p><p>Duke looked over him with a grim expression, his normal brilliant smile hidden behind a frown. "I'm sorry about all of that, Joey."</p><p>Joey glanced at Duke and then sighed, shoulders slumping. "It's not your fault, so don't apologize. It's that asshole's fault. He made this whole situation worse! And for what? To combine our countries! For his gain! The nerve of that jerk!"</p><p>Duke ran a hand through his hair, "I know, it's fucked up. But there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out okay."</p><p>Joey gave him a skeptical look and Duke's mouth curved upwards. "Well, at least you'll get to annoy him for the rest of your days," Duke offered.</p><p>Joey brightened, looking over at Duke with a grin.</p><p>Duke frowned in confusion, "What?"</p><p>Joey's eyes sparkled. "That's it! I'll just make him hate me! Well, more than now. I'll make it so he can't stand me and then he'll have no choice but to not marry me! It's brilliant!"</p><p>Duke stared at his friend for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Hey, you know what man? That might just work!"</p><p>"Of course, it will! Just watch!" Joey said happily. He grabbed Duke's hand. "Let's go celebrate by eating ourselves into a coma!"</p><p>Joey was positive that this would work. It had to. If he could perform all the acts that had made Seto hate him in the past, perhaps he'd drop the engagement and leave him and his country alone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joey walked through the large marble doors, staring in awe at the delicate architecture that was the palace of Pious. It was nothing like Ghaffar, his home town. The place truly screamed with wealth and powerful people.</p><p>Wrinkling his nose up at the thought, Joey was introduced by an older man, Rolland, and then was led into an immaculate parlor room.</p><p>Seto Kaiba was sitting cross-legged in a silver-rimmed chair, reading a book with black square glasses perched on the edge of his nose. Joey stared at him for a moment, before quirking an eyebrow. Since when did Seto wear glasses?</p><p>"Well, I'm here," Joey announced loudly with annoyance high in his voice. "You gonna make me clean your floors or lick your boots? Because if you demand I do either you'll be looking for a new fiancé in a matter of seconds."</p><p>Seto had looked up at Joey during the blonde's ramble. Closing the book, he set it aside and took his glasses off to place them in an inner pocket of his coat.</p><p>"You came here willingly, I see. I must ask you though Wheeler, did you miss me that badly?" Seto taunted.</p><p>As expected, Joey puffed up with anger like a furious cat and grew red in the face. "As if, ya bastard!"</p><p>Rolland opened his mouth to scold Joey for his foul language towards his King, but Seto silenced him with a hand. "You may leave Rolland, I can take care of my fiancé."</p><p>Rolland seemed to be conflicted but unwillingly made himself leave the room. Seto then gestured to the chair next to him. "Have a seat Wheeler."</p><p>Joey wanted to argue, but seeing as he'd been on a horse for five hours, his stiff body obeyed the command. He sunk into the soft cushion with a stifled sigh of relief.</p><p>"Good boy," Seto couldn't help but praise, and Joey practically growled back at him, widening Seto's smirk. "All right well, let's get down to business. My event planners will be here tomorrow afternoon and will immediately begin planning our wedding" – Joey snorted at the word but Seto continued as if he hadn't heard it – "Tonight, however, we will be having dinner so you can officially meet my younger brother. I strongly suggest you watch your mouth around him. He's only eleven."</p><p>Joey looked over at Seto curiously at the mention of a brother. He hadn't known that Seto had siblings. "Younger brother?"</p><p>Seto rolled his eyes at Joey's senselessness. "Yes, younger brother. As in, a male child born to my parents a few years after I was."</p><p>Joey scowled at his sarcasm. "I know what a younger brother is, ya jerk! I was just surprised you had one. You've never mentioned him before."</p><p>Seto leaned back in his chair, hands firmly gripping the arms. "Why should I when you are constantly barking at me every time I see you? I'm sorry, but I don't usually divulge personal information with people who are disruptive in my life."</p><p>Joey glared at him. "I'm disruptive? Every time I have seen you, you're in my country! If anyone has been disruptive, it's you."</p><p>Seto sighed and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his patience. "Look, can we get back to the topic? I am trying to talk with you."</p><p>"Well, I don't want to talk to you."</p><p>"It's mutual, but I have no choice."</p><p>"Then why are you marrying me? Why not just end it while we're ahead?"</p><p>"You know the answer to that, and besides, you look too hopeful. I wouldn't be doing my job as your rival if I made sure all your fantasies came true."</p><p>"You're an asshole," Joey scowled.</p><p>"You've told me that before."</p><p>"Well, I'm telling you again, asshole."</p><p>"Are you done yet?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"Well, be done. I have things to do."</p><p>"Like what?"</p><p>"King things."</p><p>"What kind of King things?"</p><p>"Things you'll learn when you're the king. Now shut up," Seto was quickly losing all patience he was struggling to maintain with the blonde.</p><p>"Don't tell me to shut up!"</p><p>"I'll do what I want."</p><p>"Rolland!" Seto suddenly called loudly, making Joey jump in surprise.</p><p>Good, Joey thought. Seto was frustrated with him already.</p><p>The elder man appeared back into the room, peering around to see if anything had broken while he had been gone.</p><p>"Please escort Prince Wheeler throughout the palace and show him to his room."</p><p>Joey stood up in outrage, turning his furious eyes on the king. "I'm staying here?"</p><p>Seto beheld Joey with a strange expression. "Where else would you be staying?"</p><p>"Why can't I go back home?"</p><p>"Because it's a five-hour ride back. That's ten hours you'd be on horseback daily and it's unnecessary. You're needed here for the rest of the week. The press needs its information by Friday."</p><p>"A week?!" Joey couldn't believe this. The nerve of this pompous asshole!</p><p>"Yes. Now go, before I make you share a room with me."</p><p>"What?!"</p><p>Joey was then tugged from the room by Rolland and forced to tour the palace. In all honesty, the place was quite remarkable. It wasn't nearly as terrible as he had imagined it would be. A little too white, but nice.</p><p>Joey had made note of the kitchen, vowing to himself to eat as much as possible to spike Seto. The game room, however, was a sight to behold. Perhaps he'd take refuge there.</p><p>By the time he was directed into his bedroom, Joey stopped in the hallway and stared at the light blue colored door next to his.</p><p>"What does that go to? The bathroom?"</p><p>"It's King Seto's bedroom," he answered before opening Joey's bedroom door.</p><p>Joey gave a curious glance at the door next to his once more before entering his own, a sudden question on his mind.</p><p>"Why do you call him King Seto? Shouldn't he be King Kaiba?"</p><p>Rolland sighed at the never-ending questions. "King Kaiba was his father's name. They are completely different people and therefore shall be named for such alteration."</p><p>Joey thought over that for a few minutes before his eyes took in the room and lit up. The room was covered in red dressing and his heart sped up at the size of his television. Of course, he had a wonderful television in his palace, but this one took the cake! It was practically a movie theater screen. Leave it to Seto to make sure everything he had was better than Joey's.</p><p>Joey flopped himself onto the bed and grabbed the remote. "Awesome!" The resolution was amazing. It was as if he was in the movie!</p><p>Rolland seemed to feel content to leave the blond in his room so he cleared his throat, gaining Joey's attention for a second. "I'll be downstairs. Shall you need anything, please call the number on your telephone next to the bed. You will be accommodated."</p><p>"Thanks, Rolland," Joey said sincerely before turning his attention back to the television.</p><p>Perhaps it wouldn't be that bad staying here. He didn't have to deal with his father controlling his daily life. Instead, he had an egotistical fiancé who was trying to control his life. For some reason, a large television and eating Seto's food made up for that fact.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Later that night, Joey had fallen asleep watching a movie.</p><p>Rolland had been sent to retrieve him for dinner. After calling his name multiple times, the elder man had resulted in shaking him. Joey had almost attacked him, but they were somehow both were alive when they entered the dining room.</p><p>It was even larger than the parlor and the table was long enough to seat a hundred guests. Joey wasn't surprised by this, his dining room was about the same size. His family often had people at their palace and often were among visitors than not.</p><p>At the very end, Seto sat at the head of the table with a small cheerful-looking boy next to him. Joey assumed this was his younger brother and decided that toning his language down a little around him was in order. He wouldn't want some lunatic acting stupid in front of Serenity, so he could respect that.</p><p>Even if it was Seto.</p><p>"Glad you could join us," Seto began, his provoking voice echoing throughout the empty room as Joey approached them. "What took you both so long?"</p><p>Joey sheepishly smiled as he sat down across from the little boy, who had long black hair and stormy grey eyes which seemed to sparkle as he looked back at Joey.</p><p>Rolland decided to answer for him, sounding annoyed. "Prince Wheeler was asleep, I had to wake him by force."</p><p>Joey felt Seto's eyes burn into his head and he attempted to keep his smirk to himself.</p><p>"Never mind," Seto dismissed. "Let the cooks know we are ready for dinner, Rolland."</p><p>Rolland bowed in response and left the room.</p><p>"Hi! I'm Mokuba!"</p><p>Joey turned his attention to the boy sitting in front of him and transformed his face into a friendly smile.</p><p>"Nice to meet you, Mokuba. I'm sure you know who I am."</p><p>Seto straightened in his chair at the words exchanged between the two, obviously nervous about it.</p><p>"I do! I can't believe you two are getting married! Seto's been so lonely for so long and this is just perfect! And our countries combining! It's going to be great-"</p><p>Seto cleared his throat at his brother. Mokuba looked over at him, before calming himself.</p><p>Joey's eyes had gone wide from the ramble. He didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings by the response he wanted to reply with.</p><p>"Yeah well, we'll see how it goes," Joey answered with a scratch to the back of his neck, watching Mokuba perk back up with a smiling nod. He could feel Seto's eyes on him again.</p><p>Joey refused to look back at him and was relieved when the cooks entered the room with their meals in tow.</p><p>Joey was used to eating copiously at home, but for some reason, it looked even better on Seto's pristine table. Perhaps it was because he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning.</p><p>"Oh yum!" He began digging in as soon as it was laid out before them.</p><p>The Kaiba brothers then witnessed a hungry Joey Wheeler.</p><p>Seto was disgusted and Mokuba was horrified by how much Joey could stuff into his mouth at once. He almost had lost his appetite when Joey had crammed mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding together on a spoon and swallowed it.</p><p>Finally, and gratefully so, dinner was officially over and they were all brought hot tea (except for Mokuba who drank hot chocolate). Joey laid back in his chair to pat his stomach contently.</p><p>"Oh man, that was awesome. Your chefs are incredible." He held back a burp.</p><p>Seto wrinkled his nose at his fiancé. "Aren't you fed daily this way or do you have to cook yourself food like a commoner?"</p><p>Joey glared at Seto for the first time since that morning. "No! We have chefs. But I was just so hungry," he defended himself and gulped his tea.</p><p>Mokuba looked up from his hot chocolate with whipped cream on his nose and Seto fondly wiped it off with a napkin. Joey watched Seto with his brother for a second, surprised to see the expression Seto had on his face when he dealt with Mokuba.</p><p>"I'm glad you are here Joey. It can get lonely sometimes," Mokuba said to the blonde with a smile.</p><p>Joey felt a bit guilty that he was trying to sabotage the engagement when his little brother was so amped to have someone else around to hang out with even before he got to know him. He didn't want to hurt Mokuba by the end of it. Maybe he should speed things up before the boy got too attached.</p><p>Quickly changing the subject, Joey straightened in his chair. "I saw you have a gaming room. It's okay if I play in it yeah?"</p><p>Seto began to protest but Mokuba replied cheerfully. "YES! You can play with me! I have all the best games!"</p><p>"Um, yeah sure."</p><p>Seto peered over his teacup at Joey then set his cup down. Clearing his throat, he looked at his brother. "Mokuba, it's time for bed."</p><p>Mokuba deflated and groaned. "But Seto! I want to stay up and play games with Joey!"</p><p>Joey's heart tightened at the confession. Oh boy.</p><p>"No Mokuba. You have tutoring tomorrow morning. You need your rest."</p><p>Mokuba whined a little more, trying to get Seto to see his way but his older brother had dealt with this many times and wasn't budging. Joey was sure that if Serenity acted that way still, he'd of let her stay up. Seto was one tough cookie.</p><p>Resigning, Mokuba stood dramatically. "Fine. Goodnight big brother," he said with a small glare that left Seto unaffected.</p><p>Mokuba then looked over at Joey with a small sad smile. "Goodnight Joey. We will play games tomorrow after I get done with school."</p><p>Joey wanted to make up an excuse to get out of it, thinking that getting anywhere close to the kid would only making leaving in the long run worse. Though he saw the look in Mokuba's eyes and fell victim to it.</p><p>"Okay kid. Goodnight," Joey said with a smile.</p><p>Mokuba's eyes lit up at the agreement before bouncing out of the dining room.</p><p>Joey hesitantly looked over at Seto, now that they were the only ones in the room. Should he take advantage of that fact or just go to bed himself? He'd had a long day himself and there was a whole morning to ruin their engagement that he needed to rest up for. Then again, who could deny being adventurous? Joey sure couldn't.</p><p>"So…" Joey began, leaning his elbows on the table as Seto looked up at him. "About that planning tomorrow. Is it okay if I skip?"</p><p>Seto frowned with confusion. "And what, do tell, would you do that takes precedence over the planning of our wedding?"</p><p>Joey shrugged nonchalantly. "Ya know, stuff."</p><p>Seto didn't believe Joey for a moment.</p><p>"Stuff…" Seto tried on for size. "Right. You are in a place you aren't familiar with and know nobody except for me, Mokuba, and Rolland. I highly doubt you have anything important to do."</p><p>Joey then crossed his arms stubbornly. "I do too. Like getting the hell out of dodge."</p><p>Seto narrowed his eyes at the blonde. "You're not leaving."</p><p>Joey glared back. "You can't make me stay."</p><p>Seto leaned forwards, brushing his cup out of his way as he tapered his gaze to the blond. "I can make you do a lot of things, Wheeler. Try me," he said dangerously in a low voice that should have made Joey involuntarily shudder.</p><p>However, Joey was oblivious to it.</p><p>"You can't make me do anything, Kaiba," Joey taunted, using the king's last name.</p><p>It hit the desired effect as Seto glared even darker at the blonde. Joey tried not to grin with triumph. "I'll be gone by morning. This engagement was a whole ploy to make you a better king. Well, ya know what Kaiba? I'm not going to be a pawn in your chess game," he stated before standing up to take his leave.</p><p>Fingers wrapped around his wrist and threw him backward with strength Joey wasn't expecting. His back hit a wall hard and he blinked from the impact. Icy, blue eyes pierced him and he jumped at the furious face of Seto Kaiba.</p><p>"You're not going anywhere, Wheeler. You're staying in this palace and participating in planning our wedding. You will be marrying me. You have no choice in the matter. So get over yourself and deal with it."</p><p>Joey's body shuddered at the sound of Seto's voice.</p><p>For some reason, he had a cold feeling that escaping Seto Kaiba would be harder than he had initially thought.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning after Joey had arrived in Pious, he awoke on his own time and was thankful for it.</p><p>He'd had an impossible time falling asleep from stress. He desperately wanted out of this arrangement. Seto Kaiba was a conceited bastard. The thought of having to spend the rest of his life with him was enough to make Joey sick. Or give him a miserable headache.</p><p>Rubbing his head, he climbed out of bed and presided for the connected bathroom. Taking a shower should help him feel better.</p><p>Afterward, he concluded it hadn't helped at all. Throwing a brush through his hair, Joey dressed in his attire. He supposed he would have to make an appearance. This engagement wasn't going to sabotage itself.</p><p>Grumbling to himself, he grabbed the doorknob but stopped. "Hunh…?"</p><p>With a frown, he tried the door again. He panicked. Why the hell was it locked?!</p><p>Angry, he rammed his body into the door to break it down. When it didn't work, he fell backward onto his bed with frustration and grabbed at his hair. "Paranoid bastard," he muttered.</p><p>Seto must have thought he'd make a run for it.</p><p>Staring up at the ceiling and cursing whoever decided that his life needed to be a disaster, he started at the sound of the door unlocking. Sitting up, he saw Rolland walkthrough.</p><p>"Prince Wheeler. Good to see you're awake." He seemed relieved that he didn't have to wake him up again. "Your appearance is needed down in the sitting room. The planners have arrived."</p><p>Joey scowled darkly and pushed his way past Rolland, then proceeded to stomp down the stairs. The last thing he was in the mood for was planning a wedding he didn't even want.</p><p>Oh, they'd plan all right, he thought sinisterly. Seto's funeral.</p><p>Throwing open the parlor door, he saw Seto conversing lightly with three planners. Upon his dramatic arrival, they all stopped and looked up at him with startled expressions.</p><p>Joey quickly composed his fiery gaze into a look of arrogance. "No need to worry! Prince Wheeler has arrived."</p><p>He walked over to Seto and threw himself down in between Seto and the planner he had been speaking with.</p><p>Seto scowled at Joey, not appreciating his behavior. "We weren't worried," he stated flatly, before leaning forwards to direct his attention back to the planner. "As I was saying, light blue goes perfectly with white and-"</p><p>Joey cut in rudely. "Light blue? Is that what my dear fiancé has told you? I always say red is the best if you pardon my terrible rhyming." At this, gave the planner a wink and made her redden with wide brown eyes. "Red and black are my colors."</p><p>All the planners in the room stopped fussing over photos and clipboards to listen to the new change of colors. Seto behind Joey silently fumed.</p><p>The planner who was speaking with them looked conflicted, as she was having a hard time knowing if she should write any of it down or not.</p><p>Seto finally spoke up, glaring at Joey darkly. "Red and black are not appropriate for a wedding. Light blue and white are much more graceful and bright. What a wedding should be. Everyone who will be there will agree."</p><p>"Light blue and white are too common at weddings!" Joey argued. "Why not try something different and off the wall? Such as the couple who is getting married?"</p><p>"Because red and black are for funerals."</p><p>Joey's eyes slid into place, staring intently at Seto. "Exactly."</p><p>Seto's eyebrow twitched and Joey held back a cheer of triumph. He was getting the exact reaction he had wanted. He'd never let Seto get away with all of this. Not by a long shot.</p><p>The planner was looking between them with wide, confused eyes. "Uh, your majesty? What colors are we going to stick with?"</p><p>Both Seto and Joey answered her at the same time.</p><p>"Light blue."</p><p>"Black."</p><p>Seto'd had enough. He grabbed the scruff of Joey's neck and pulled him to his feet. "Excuse me," he spoke to her politely. "I must speak to my fiancé in private to settle this matter."</p><p>He swiftly pulled Joey by the hand out of the parlor and Joey couldn't help but smile.</p><p>The smug expression was caught by Seto and he glowered at the blond. "What are you doing, Wheeler?"</p><p>Joey didn't let it phase him. "Helping you plan our wedding."</p><p>Seto crossed his arms, staring down at him over his nose. "You're trying to sabotage it."</p><p>Damn. Seto had caught on quicker than he'd thought. Joey wasn't going to admit defeat though. That wasn't how he worked.</p><p>"No, I'm not," he lied. "I'm helping you plan the wedding. Isn't that what you wanted?"</p><p>"I wanted you to help me as a well-rounded adult, but I see I was mistaken to think you were capable of that," Seto snapped. "Why don't you just let me make the plans if you don't want to have anything to do with it?"</p><p>"Because it's my wedding too, as you have so humbly pointed out," Joey countered, crossing his arms defiantly.</p><p>They were getting nowhere, as usual.</p><p>Seto let out a breathy sigh in defeat. "Fine. Let's compromise. Light blue and red."</p><p>"White and black."</p><p>Seto gritted his teeth. "Red and white."</p><p>"Light blue and black."</p><p>Seto's scowl deepened. "Why do you want black in it so bad?"</p><p>Joey couldn't hold it back anymore. "Because to me, it is my funeral. It's the day that I have to give up my whole way of life and live here with you without my friends or family. It's the end of Joey Wheeler."</p><p>With that, he disappeared back into the parlor room.</p><p>Seto stared after him, thinking over his words. He couldn't be angry at the blond for the confession. It was completely true.</p><p>With another sigh, Seto reentered the parlor. Joey was silently waiting for him to return with his arms crossed over his chest and pouting. Seto sat down next to him and looked over at the planner.</p><p>"We've decided on light blue and black," he told her and she nodded in relief, scribbling it down. The other planners began fussing over the changes.</p><p>Seto looked away from them all, feeling Joey's golden gaze on him.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>After meeting with the planners, Joey had locked himself up inside his room. Seto had gone off to do whatever King things he had to do for the day. So, that led Joey to watch television for a boring two hours. Joey lay on his back with his eyes closed, but not sleeping.</p><p>He still couldn't believe that Seto had agreed to use black in their wedding. If they had one, at least. He didn't care if Seto had found him out, he wasn't going to give up. He was worth more than this.</p><p>However, it was as if Seto had been trying to make up for Joey's situation. It was as if… maybe, he felt guilty about it?</p><p>He cursed Seto for being so confusing. He hated the snobby bastard. Why couldn't they just leave it at that?</p><p>A knock on his door had him opening his eyes and sitting up. For some reason, he had expected it to be Seto. More than likely, it was because he'd been thinking about him.</p><p>Gross... He'd been thinking about him.</p><p>"Come in," Joey finally called out and saw Mokuba opening the door with a bright grin.</p><p>"Heya Joey! I thought maybe we could go play some games."</p><p>Joey had completely forgotten about his agreement with the boy. Damn. Well, it beat sitting up in his room thinking about things that made his head hurt. "Sure kid."</p><p>Joey smiled at the boy and followed him down to the game room.</p><p>It was nearing dinner by the time Joey and Mokuba had torn themselves from the game systems. It had felt great to play video games again! It'd been a couple of years. Once Joey had reached the age of sixteen, his downtime had almost been nonexistent. There had been more studying and cramming.</p><p>It was nice to relax and zone out in some fighting games. Mokuba was a great partner and an opponent. He'd had Joey running for his money.</p><p>Mokuba was practically bouncing in his spot on the sofa. "That was fun!"</p><p>"Sure was! Wanna play another round?" Joey suggested enthusiastically, completely forgetting the fact that he shouldn't be bonding with the kid.</p><p>"You bet!"</p><p>A clear of a throat stopped them from throwing their headgear back and they both looked up at Rolland in the doorway. "Your majesty awaits you in the dining room for dinner."</p><p>Both boys threw themselves back against the couch with a groan.</p><p>Oh great. I get to deal with Moneybags, Joey thought sordidly.</p><p>He forced himself up and they followed Rolland down to the dining room.</p><p>As soon as they entered, Mokuba began listing off all the exciting games they'd played to his older brother. Seto listened halfheartedly.</p><p>Joey caught his gaze before quickly tearing his eyes away to sit down awkwardly on the other side. The tension between them was thick and Joey wondered if he'd truly be missed if he ate in his bedroom.</p><p>The suggestion on his tongue was cut off by the chefs bringing in their food. Just like the night before, it was extravagant. Joey had forgotten lunch and had eaten lunch lavishly, but dinner seemed to be the best meal.</p><p>Unfortunately, Joey didn't feel his appetite and was unwittingly making a show of it by pushing around his food with his fork.</p><p>Seto noticed immediately and realized something was wrong with the blond. He didn't want to ask, but he wondered if it had anything to do with the planning that morning. Instead of questioning him about it, he conversed with Mokuba who seemed to have had a wonderful time with Joey.</p><p>Once Mokuba started shuffling food into his mouth and his distraction was gone, Seto grew tired of seeing Joey moping. "Is there something wrong with the food?"</p><p>Joey blinked and lifted his head with confusion, before realizing what he meant. "Uh, no. Just not hungry."</p><p>Seto snorted in disbelief. "From the little time I've seen you around food, I can tell you affirmatively that you are always hungry."</p><p>Joey narrowed his eyes at Seto instead of snapping back like he normally did, then looked back down to his food to take a tentative bite. He felt Seto's penetrating gaze on him.</p><p>After an awkward tea (hot chocolate), Mokuba was sent to bed with a promise to play with Joey again the next day. The blond agreed happily this time but quickly returned into his sulking self once he was alone with Seto.</p><p>After a few minutes of silence, Joey decided he had been tortured long enough. He stood, the chair squeaking against the hardwood floor underneath.</p><p>"Sit down Wheeler," Seto commanded and Joey looked over at him, startled.</p><p>He reluctantly sat back down.</p><p>"Now what is the matter with you? You've barely touched your dinner and the only time you've spoken is to speak with Mokuba. Did I do something to offend you?"</p><p>There were too many answers to that particular question, but he decided to save his breath this time.</p><p>"Nope. Just not hungry."</p><p>Seto eyed him doubtfully. "So, it has nothing to do with the planners this morning?"</p><p>Joey visibly tensed and cursed how perceptive Seto was.</p><p>The blonde frowned uncomfortably down at his cup of tea. His mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. Why was it suddenly so hard to suddenly defend himself?</p><p>When he did speak, it was quiet and unsure. "You chose black as one of our wedding colors. Why?"</p><p>Seto looked awkward with the sudden change in the atmosphere. He crossed his arms defensively. "Because you wouldn't stop arguing with me unless I did."</p><p>Joey felt the familiar hatred towards the king resurface. "So, you are an asshole."</p><p>Seto's eyes narrowed. "So, I've been told," he replied flatly. "Whatever Wheeler."</p><p>Joey grew angry. At himself and Seto. Mainly because he had let himself think that maybe deep down, Seto was human after all. That maybe he'd wanted to make it a little better for Joey. Now, he realized he'd just been a fool.</p><p>"I'm going to bed," Joey concluded, standing up again to leave for good this time.</p><p>However, Seto's voice made him pause in the doorway. "Make sure to rest up tonight, Wheeler. We're going on a date tomorrow."</p><p>Joey's hands slammed on the door frame, his knuckles turning white. "Date?"</p><p>"Yes, a date. Surely you know what that is."</p><p>Joey spun around so fast that he almost lost his balance. The bastard was staring at him indifferently too. Like it didn't even matter. "Yes! I know what a date is! But why do we have to go on one? Haven't we skipped that part of a relationship already?"</p><p>"Press reasons only. Trust me, Wheeler, I don't want to go on a date with you just as much as you don't."</p><p>Joey was at a loss for words. He couldn't believe this crap. He could only scoff. "Whatever."</p><p>He successfully left the dining room and ran up the stairs to his bedroom, afraid Seto would call him back to tell him they'd be sharing a room next.</p><p>He had to get out of this place. This engagement. It had to end.</p><p>Rubbing at his cheeks, he formed a plan.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Upon waking up the next morning after a fitful night's sleep, Joey decided he needed to take his mind off what was to come later that evening. He hadn't officially wondered the palace on his own and it seemed like a good enough idea.</p>
<p>The palace was huge, so surely there were secrets in it that Seto didn't want him to find.</p>
<p>After eating a copious amount of breakfast because he was starving, he walked the long hallways. He ran his hand along the marble walls, probably leaving a finger smudged line.</p>
<p>Try as he might, the fact that he'd have to be seen in public with his sworn enemy as his fiancé was prickling at his mind. Seto would probably expect them to act in a certain way around everyone and it made him sick to his stomach.</p>
<p>Joey's idle thoughts had him distracted enough to not realize he'd reached the end of a hallway until he came to a stop in front of a ginormous door. Looking up at it, he realized it looked almost exactly like the front door down the stairs. Strange, he thought. Why was a huge marble door doing on the third floor?</p>
<p>Too curious for his good, the blond stepped up to it and grabbed the handle. But it wouldn't budge.</p>
<p>"Wha-" he began to question before beating on the door to figure out its ways, even though it most likely wouldn't help him anyway.</p>
<p>"What are you doing?"</p>
<p>Joey jumped at the voice and he spun around to see Mokuba watching the boy curiously. A blush rose on Joey's cheeks at being caught and he moved away from the door at lightning speed.</p>
<p>"Uh, nothin'! Just wondering around the palace."</p>
<p>Mokuba looked from Joey to the door before settling his stormy grey eyes back on the blonde.</p>
<p>"Were you trying to go in there?" he questioned. "Cause I don't think banging on it is the way to do it."</p>
<p>Joey grew flustered, not knowing what to say to defend himself before admitting defeat with a sigh. "Yes…. Where does it lead to?"</p>
<p>Mokuba's lips curved upwards as he moved past Joey to approach the door. Joey followed interestedly.</p>
<p>The boy grabbed a chain from under his coat and pulled out what was revealed to be a duel monsters card. "It's one of the most treasured parts of the castle. You'd need this to get in."</p>
<p>Joey gave it an odd look, not understanding. Mokuba slid the card in-between the cracks of the closed doors. A technological sound came from within and Joey rolled his eyes. Of course, it worked that way.</p>
<p>The doors slid open and a bright light hit Joey's eyes, disabling him from being able to see what was hidden inside.</p>
<p>Squinting, he threw his arm up as a shield and saw Mokuba enter the room. When he was finally able to see, his eyes widened two sizes.</p>
<p>Hesitantly, he entered the room. It was a wide greenhouse that held so many different plants and flowers. It was almost like a park.</p>
<p>"Wow."</p>
<p>Mokuba chuckled at Joey's reaction then petted a leaf next to him fondly. "It's our secret garden. No has ever been in here except for me and Seto."</p>
<p>Joey frowned in confusion. "What about your father?"</p>
<p>"No, he didn't like this place. His father created it and I think he had some sort of bad memories about it. When Seto and I came around, we could go in if we wanted. So, Seto made sure that it was a place for just us. If we're in a bad mood or something, we could always come in here away from everyone and feel better. I love it."</p>
<p>Joey nodded thoughtfully and he walked through the vast room to see all the different flowers. It was strange. Seto Kaiba seemed to be a cold-blooded dick to everyone except for Mokuba.</p>
<p>"Your brother probably doesn't want me in here," Joey said as Mokuba came to his side.</p>
<p>Mokuba gave him a lopsided grin. "Probably not, but what he doesn't know won't kill him. Plus, you're family now."</p>
<p>Joey chewed at the inside of his cheek at the word, 'Family'. Mokuba was a sweet kid and he enjoyed the boy's company. It was unfortunate that his older brother was an asshole and that he'd have to leave Mokuba on such bad terms.</p>
<p>"Hey, wanna go play some more games?" Joey asked him, changing the subject.</p>
<p>Mokuba's eyes lit up. The boy was obsessed with games and Joey chuckled at his enthusiasm.</p>
<p>"Yes! Come on! Let's go!" Mokuba grabbed Joey's hand and pulled him down to the game room.</p>
<p>oO0Oo</p>
<p>Seto unbuttoned the cuffs to his coat as he walked down the hallway. He fully intended to strip down and get into his large porcelain bathtub to work out the tension in his muscles. Ever since Joey had arrived, it seemed like his life had gotten that much more stressful. He was either dealing with his company, his kingdom, or his unruly fiancé.</p>
<p>Hopefully, once the shock of it all settled down, it'd be a bit easier.</p>
<p>Sighing, Seto ran a hand through his hair. Joey was aggravating.</p>
<p>Walking past the game room, he paused at the sound of smashing buttons. He peered into the room to see his brother and Joey staring intently at the wall-sized television in front of them. Both had headsets on and were unaware of his presence. Taking advantage of that fact, he took in the scene.</p>
<p>Mokuba was clenching and unclenching his teeth, his eyes squinting in concentration. His hair was tousled around his still quite round face, as the headset had been placed on clumsily. He must have been excited to play with Joey.</p>
<p>Seto mused with a smile. He hadn't seen his brother this carefree and happy in a very long time. He could overlook Joey's moronic behavior in favor of the fact that his brother had something to hang out with. Since Seto had become King, it was hard to find time to do anything fun with the boy.</p>
<p>Seto's eyes strayed over to Joey and he held back a snicker. The blonde's hair was equally as messy as Mokuba's and his eyes were narrowed, while his thumbs repeatedly hit the buttons of his controller. A little too hard. He must be absorbed in the game. Seto could even see a tiny hint of his pink tongue between his lips.</p>
<p>Feeling a strange tingle in the pit of his stomach, Seto frowned to himself and left the room.</p>
<p>Not taking his time in the slightest, he locked himself in his bedroom and tore off his clothing. After waiting for his tub to fill, he slid his long body down and felt the strain in his muscles start to relax. He lay his head back against the tub, staring up at his white ceiling.</p>
<p>He wasn't sure what to make of his fiancé. They constantly fought, got on each other's nerves (on purpose, half the time), insulted each other, and had even been in physical fights at times. Still…</p>
<p>Seto had this weird feeling that wouldn't go away whenever he was around Joey. Or even thought about him.</p>
<p>It wasn't a good feeling. It had Seto wanting to find out what it was and squash it so it'd go away. He hated feeling in the dark about something. Especially when it concerned himself.</p>
<p>Apart of him wanted to send Joey home to make it all go away. He knew better though…. To expand his country and build his new palace, he needed Ghaffer.</p>
<p>So, he needed Joey.</p>
<p>Feeling his stress return, he straightened in his tub and snatched his bar of soap. Glaring at it, he vowed that he would not allow Joey to ruin his plans.</p>
<p>Even if they hurt Joey's feelings. Seto Kaiba came first.</p>
<p>oO0Oo</p>
<p>Later on that evening, Seto stood in his foyer and looked over at the clock on his wall. He was growing impatient. He had sent Rolland up to retrieve Joey thirteen minutes ago. What the hell was taking so long?</p>
<p>He crossed his arms over his chest grumpily, his eyes focused on the clock.</p>
<p>Finally, after five more minutes of inwardly cursing his infuriating fiancé, Joey and Rolland came down the stairwell.</p>
<p>Seto looked upwards and the insult that had been on his tongue quickly disappeared from the appearance of Joey. The blond was wearing a flatter coat that could only belong to a prince. It was white and red, tailored just for his body, with black pants. His hair was combed enough to show that he had attempted to try. Seto was surprised. He'd never seen Joey look better.</p>
<p>Realizing what he had just thought, his sour mood returned.</p>
<p>"Well, what took you so long?" Seto asked him through narrowed eyes. "Not trying to dress up for me, are you?"</p>
<p>Joey glowered at him in return and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "Don't be so full of yourself, ya jerk! I just didn't want to go and Rolland forced me."</p>
<p>Seto rolled his eyes and turned for the door. "Whatever, let's just get this stupid date over with."</p>
<p>"What a wonderful way to sweep me off my feet," Joey commented sarcastically as he followed him out of the door.</p>
<p>The car ride into town was silent and Seto couldn't help but glance in Joey's direction. He did look good. He didn't want to admit it, but it was true. The red accents to his coat were pleasing with his tanned complexion, setting off the sun-kissed glow that he had. His blond hair was beginning to fluff back out, but Seto didn't mind. He couldn't say that seeing Joey with neat hair was ever something he'd want to witness. It would be too odd.</p>
<p>Rolland stopped the car in front of one of Seto's many hotels. It was one of the taller skyscrapers in Pious and one of his least favorite places to go. Despite having a lot of money, Seto preferred quieter restaurants to eat at. The one in this hotel seemed to always be busy with rich, snobby millionaires.</p>
<p>A movement to his side had him looking at the boy beside him. Joey had his face pressed up against the window, apparently surprised at how tall the building was. Seto highly doubted his fiancé had ever seen such a skyscraper. Ghaffer was a lower country with more medieval towns and buildings. That would change once Seto had control of it.</p>
<p>Seto snorted and Joey turned to give him a dirty look.</p>
<p>"We're here your majesty, your highness," Rolland told them formally from the front seat.</p>
<p>Joey was quick to grab the door handle, intending on jumping out of the car as quickly as possible but Seto's hand shot out to stop him.</p>
<p>Joey jumped and swung his head around to look at him. "What are you doing?"</p>
<p>Seto just gave him a blank look, ignoring the small tingle on his fingers where he was touching Joey's warm hand. "The press is all around us, we have to behave like an engaged couple. That means I have to be a gentleman."</p>
<p>Seto released Joey's hand, deciding that it was safe to do so. Joey snorted at him and crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl.</p>
<p>"You? A gentleman? Please."</p>
<p>Seto ignored the jab and exited the car when one of his guards opened the door for him. Immediately, flashes from cameras and a million and one voices began speaking all at once. Avoiding eye contact, he walked around the car to Joey's door.</p>
<p>oO0Oo</p>
<p>Joey huffed when he was alone in the car. This whole situation was ridiculous. Why was the press so important? It was bad enough that he had to deal with it behind closed doors but in front of the whole world? He felt like he wanted to be sick.</p>
<p>His door rapidly opened and he knew that his privacy was now at an end. Joey looked up through grumpy eyes to see Seto's hand offered out to him. Sighing in defeat, he uncrossed his arms and took Seto's hand to exit the car.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Joey went blind as a camera flashes disabled him. Voices were trying to get his attention and he quickly became overwhelmed. He was thankful that Seto was leading them through the crowd, as he was trying to hide his eyes from the white lights. His hand absently tightened around Seto's and they were quickly escorted by Seto's guards into the building.</p>
<p>Once inside, Joey lifted his head and he saw many workers of the hotel standing in a line. They were all watching them with stupid grins on their faces. Joey felt extremely uncomfortable in front of everyone.</p>
<p>Seto suddenly took Joey's hand, moving it to his bicep respectively. Joey felt a blush creep up his neck.</p>
<p>"Don't worry, we have a semi-private table. I made sure it was in the corner. However, the window we will be sitting next to will be a mirror to us, but everyone outside will be able to see everything that we do."</p>
<p>They were led by a host into a large dining room. There was an enormous fountain that held a statue of Seto's father in the middle of the room. Joey had barely made out the man's features before they were whisked away to their table.</p>
<p>Seto pulled Joey's chair out for him, keeping a passive expression on his face. Although Joey felt the need to blush at the gesture, he reminded himself that this was all an act. Seto was most likely hating it as much as he was. Trying not to think about the fact that there were probably hundreds of people pressing their faces to the window right now, he trained his face carefully as he sat down.</p>
<p>Joey waited till Seto had taken his seat before leaning forwards. "Now what?" he murmured.</p>
<p>Seto didn't answer him and before Joey could say anything further, their waiter arrived to take their drink order and hand over their menus.</p>
<p>Joey opened the large book and his eyes went wide at the size and text. How in the hell was he supposed to read all of this?</p>
<p>"Have a problem, Wheeler?"</p>
<p>Joey looked up at Seto in annoyance. "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You had to make us go to the most outrageous restaurant in your whole city just to humiliate me. You are an asshole."</p>
<p>Seto smirked. "I didn't do it on purpose, idiot. However, I can see it paid off anyways by the blank look in your eyes. I bet you've never eaten this fancy in your whole life."</p>
<p>Joey couldn't help it. He kicked Seto's shin from under the table. Seto jumped at it and Joey smiled, pleased that he'd hurt him. Seto shifted in his seat and glanced towards the window in paranoia.</p>
<p>"Are you unable to control yourself?" he asked stiffly.</p>
<p>Joey threw a lopsided grin at him and shrugged. He looked back down at the menu and ignored the boy across from him. After a few minutes of deep concentration and determination to read the menu, he finally found something he could understand and sounded appealing.</p>
<p>Their waiter returned to their table with their drinks and took their orders. Seto rattled off some kind of meal that Joey didn't catch.</p>
<p>When they were left alone to wait for their food, Joey grew awkward again. He could feel eyes on him, burning into his face. He didn't even know his hand on the table had clenched into a fist until a warm hand took it.</p>
<p>Joey's eyes snapped up to Seto in surprise.</p>
<p>"You need to relax," Seto muttered, staring at him. Joey felt himself blush at the intensity of his look.</p>
<p>"I can't. Not with all of them staring at us," Joey confessed and realized that Seto still had a hold of him. His eyes fell to their touching hands. Seto's fingers were cold and they were making goosebumps rise on his arms.</p>
<p>"Ignore them. Pretend it's just us."</p>
<p>"That won't make me feel better."</p>
<p>Seto finally released Joey's hand and sat back in his chair. Joey breathed a sigh of relief whenever his hand was free and he quickly placed his hands in his lap to avoid Seto touching him again. It made his body react strangely.</p>
<p>"Why can't you just do this? It's called acting," Seto stated, crossing his arms over his chest.</p>
<p>Joey looked up at him in irritation. "Because it's stupid. I don't understand why the press needs to see us this way. What's it to them?"</p>
<p>"They need to see that we have feelings for each other."</p>
<p>"But we don't."</p>
<p>Seto eyed Joey's angered expression. "They don't know that."</p>
<p>"Well they should," Joey hissed, his fingernails creating half-moon-shaped punctures into his palms. "How can anyone have feelings for someone who won them in a tournament? It's like I was a pig auctioned off."</p>
<p>Seto didn't comment and Joey looked away in irritation. Seto would never understand what he was going through. He'd had everything go his way his whole life. He'd had control over it. Whereas Joey's life had been carefully planned since the time he was born. It had been the tradition for the firstborn to marry at the age of eighteen. Because Joey had refused to pick a partner for himself, his father had done it for him.</p>
<p>Yes, at least Joey didn't have to marry a woman. His father had been nice enough to consider Joey's homosexuality. However, it was just something to hold over his head.</p>
<p>Full out glaring now, Joey chanced a glance up at the man that he had been given to like a prize. The only man that he outright hated.</p>
<p>"What are you staring at?" Joey questioned him, unnerved by the intense stare trained on his face.</p>
<p>Seto quickly looked away and muttered, "Nothing of interest, believe me."</p>
<p>Joey narrowed his eyes but knew that an argument wasn't going to solve anything. Sighing, he shifted in his chair.</p>
<p>"Mokuba showed me something today."</p>
<p>Seto's eyes traveled back up to Joey's face in interest. Of course, Seto was only interested in what his brother did. "And what did my little brother show you?"</p>
<p>Joey knew that his confession would get under Seto's skin. Perhaps if he felt like his life was being invaded, then he would reject Joey as a fiancé and send him back to his homeland.</p>
<p>"Your secret garden."</p>
<p>Seto visibly tensed at the words and stared blankly at Joey. Good, Joey thought. Get angry.</p>
<p>Finally, after a moment of apparently considering what he was going to say, Seto shrugged. Joey watched in surprise. "I suppose you were to be shown that sooner or later."</p>
<p>Joey glared at him as Seto looked away from him again, feigning interest in the table before them. He would have thought for sure that it would have worked!</p>
<p>When their food arrived, Joey was relieved to find his meal edible. It even smelled amazing. Joey looked over at Seto's food and frowned in confusion. How was that even a meal? It looked like three pieces of meat with sauce drizzled over the top. Where were the sides? The delicious starches?</p>
<p>Joey looked back down at his food and couldn't contain himself. He was so hungry. As he lifted his fork, he suddenly got an idea. He would be taking a risk, but it could pay off in the end.</p>
<p>As Seto delicately ate his meal with the appropriate utensils and had a napkin on his lap (Joey watched him place it there), Joey began stuffing his face as he'd never eaten before. Forking pile after pile into his mouth, he hoped that Seto would feel embarrassed by his overly exciting display over his food.</p>
<p>Joey glanced up at the brunette and scowled. Seto wasn't even watching. He was either not paying attention or pointedly ignoring him.</p>
<p>Feeling vengeful, Joey smirked with another idea and filled his fork up again. This time, he leaned over the table with it and outstretched it towards Seto. Dark blue eyes looked up reluctantly at the spoon before settling on Joey.</p>
<p>"What are you-"</p>
<p>"Feeding you. Ya know as the press wants." Joey gave him an extensive grin. He inwardly whooped for joy when Seto clenched his jaw, obviously no appreciating the mocking.</p>
<p>"I'm not allowing you to feed me," Seto declared quickly, before returning to his meal.</p>
<p>Joey wiggled the spoon in his face, making Seto recoil from it and glare at him.</p>
<p>"Feed yourself, Wheeler."</p>
<p>"No. Come on, they'll love it. How come every time I try to cooperate, I get told no? Yet when I don't, I get yelled at," Joey asked him with a wicked gleam in his eyes.</p>
<p>Seto eyed him for a moment as Joey continued to wiggle the spoon of food in front of him. Joey could almost feel the defeat rolling off Seto.</p>
<p>Growling under his breath, Seto leaned towards the spoon and slowly opened his mouth. Joey could practically hear the swooning from outside the window. Joey's eyes darkened and he shoved the spoon in harshly before Seto could change his mind. Seto choked with wide eyes, staring up at Joey in shock.</p>
<p>Joey just gave him a smug smile, enjoying this way too much. "See? Not so bad!"</p>
<p>Ignoring the ferocious glare that he could feel coming from his counterpart, Joey downed his drink in one gulp. He slowly felt the bubbles in his stomach raise and he knew that this would be a breaking point.</p>
<p>To Seto's horror, Joey let out a large belch that had practically everyone in the room looking at him in disgust.</p>
<p>Joey grinned toothily at them. "Oops! 'Scuse me," he said with an innocent chuckle, covering his mouth.</p>
<p>"What the hell is wrong with you?" Seto seethed, eyes narrowed into slits.</p>
<p>Joey stuffed the last mouthful of his meal into his mouth and he shrugged. "It's a compliment to the chef." However, it sounded more like "ish a complimensh to da shef."</p>
<p>"You're behaving like a feral animal."</p>
<p>"Hey!" Joey protested. "That's not very nice!"</p>
<p>Seto's glare darkened. "Neither is this," he said through clenched teeth and stood. He grabbed Joey by the hand and forced him to his feet with vast strength. "We're leaving."</p>
<p>"What? Why?" Joey feigned innocence, smirking over Seto's turned shoulder as he was forcibly taken out of the restaurant with everyone's eyes on them.</p>
<p>"You're an idiot, that's why," Seto responded icily. "You're acting like this on purpose. You're trying to push me to my breaking point so I release you from our engagement. That's your intention, isn't it?"</p>
<p>Joey's eyebrows rose at Seto's acute observation. "Maybe."</p>
<p>Outside on the sidewalk of the hotel, Joey's vision was impaired once more by the flashes of cameras. Seto spun around, catching Joey's eyes and blocking the lights out of his sight. All he could see was steel cold blue and it unnerved him. He didn't think he'd seen Seto this furious before.</p>
<p>Before Joey knew it, he was pulled forwards and a warm mouth closed over his.</p>
<p>Gasps and cheers were drowned out as Joey's eyes flew open and Seto's drew closed.</p>
<p>oO0Oo</p>
<p>Her body shook uncontrollably as she perched on the edge of her couch, staring in horror at her elaborate television. This couldn't be happening.</p>
<p>Of course, she'd heard rumors all week but she had been in too much denial to take them seriously. The last time she had seen her dear Seto had been at his family's Christmas party the year before. He'd been heterosexual, showing absolutely no signs of homosexuality.</p>
<p>None of it made sense and she was furiously confused.</p>
<p>As the kiss broke between the two males, Kisara stood up abruptly and kicked over her coffee table in a blind fury.</p>
<p>"NO! This can't be happening!" she repeated aloud.</p>
<p>Two of her guards ran into the room, expecting to protect the princess.</p>
<p>She spun around, her crystal blue eyes freezing the men in place.</p>
<p>"Get my car ready. We are leaving for Pious tonight."</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Seto silently followed Joey into his palace, his dark blue eyes firmly trained on his fiancé's back.</p><p>Their date had been an absolute disaster.</p><p>Joey had made a spectacle out of himself. It really shouldn't have surprised him. However, Seto had been made a fool out of. In front of the <em>press</em>, no less.</p><p>Then there was….</p><p><em>No</em>. He'd had no choice. Joey was on the path of ruining everything. He'd had to save their engagement. The only thing he had been able to think of had been to kiss him. To stop Joey in his tracks. To make the press see that Seto did care for the idiot.</p><p>It had been a desperate move.</p><p>However, now he would have to deal with the consequences.</p><p>Joey hadn't spoken a word to him since it happened. Seto had to say he was relieved that he hadn't been punched. He could feel the tense anger that was rolling off Joey. He most likely was humiliated.</p><p>A part of Seto was glad. He should be.</p><p>Joey had completely embarrassed him in front of the whole world. The fact that Seto could do the same to him was pleasing.</p><p>But, another part of him (that he was choosing to ignore) <em>did</em> feel guilty.</p><p>They'd have to make public displays of affection at some point, regardless of how either of them felt. They were supposed to be getting married. Seto had signed up for this when he chose to win Joey in the tournament. Nothing favorable came without disadvantages.</p><p>Entering the foyer, he wasn't surprised to see Joey shrugging off the men at the front door and ascending the stairwell. He was most likely going to lock himself in his bedroom.</p><p>Seto watched with a sigh, tugging at the collar of his coat, before turning to the sitting room.</p><p>Rolland trailed behind him. As Seto sat down in his chair with exhaustion, the older man took a step forwards.</p><p>"Your majesty. Shall I get you a cup of tea?"</p><p>Seto didn't even look up, his eyes fixed on the closed wedding planner on his side table. "No, thank you."</p><p>Rolland shifted awkwardly in the middle of the room and allowed a few moments of silence before he spoke up once more. "King Seto, if I may…" Seto didn't respond and so Rolland must have felt the assurance to continue. "Prince Wheeler is under severe stress. I'm sure that in time, he will accept his duty as your betrothed-"</p><p>Seto sucked in deeply and it cut Rolland off, probably wondering if he'd said something wrong.</p><p>"He won't. Wheeler has felt inferior and like his life has been completely out of his hands. The fact that he is being forced to marry the person he hates the most is causing him to act rebelliously to take that control over his life back," Seto explained, his eyes lifting to the ceiling in disdain.</p><p>He didn't necessarily approve of divulging his feelings to anyone, but if there was one person he could trust with them, it was Rolland. He was a father figure almost. He'd always been there since he had arrived with Mokuba under the care of his step-father.</p><p>Rolland nodded at his words. "From the moment that I met Prince Wheeler, I could sense displaced anger and hostility. Not just towards you, but for the world, it seemed. However, is quite obnoxious about it."</p><p>"<em>That's</em> an understatement."</p><p>"However, I feel like you must cut him some slack, your majesty. He is not going to admit defeat in a matter of three days. It simply won't happen. If you wanted to teach him how to trust again, you would have to show him a part of yourself that no one else has seen apart from myself and Mokuba."</p><p>Seto stayed silent, mulling over Rolland's words. He felt vulnerable at the thought of it. Show Joey his soft side? That was impossible. Joey would just stomp all over it with his large feet and couth mouth. Seto had never allowed himself to open to anyone that didn't deserve it.</p><p>Joey didn't deserve it.</p><p>When he did not respond to Rolland, the man bent low at the waist and departed for the night. Seto shook, closing his eyes tightly. Would it make a difference? Would it be worth the trouble of putting himself out there in such a fashion just to make his fiancé stop with his antics?</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Joey had jumped out of the car as soon it had stopped moving, then proceeded to stomp into the palace. The nerve of that self-righteous king had to kiss him in front of literally everyone!</p><p>Worrying that Seto would say something to him, he ran up the stairwell up to his bedroom as quickly as he could.</p><p>Slamming the door to his bedroom closed, Joey threw himself onto his bed and punched the pillow next to him. Rolling onto his back, he rubbed at his face and pressed his fingers into his eyelids in frustration.</p><p>Seto Kaiba had <em>kissed</em> him. In <em>public</em>.</p><p>His first kiss had been stolen from his rival in front of the world to see. His parents. His friends. Everyone!</p><p>Shaking and on the verge of crying, he gritted his teeth and pressed his fingers against his eyes enough to see stars.</p><p>The only person he would have ever wanted to kiss him had been Duke. Of course, he knew that it would probably never happen. Never is a million years, but he had held out. The only person who would ever be allowed to even get that close to him had always been Duke.</p><p>But, fucking Seto Kaiba had taken that opportunity from him!</p><p>For <em>what</em>? To get back at him? To make a complete fool out of him?</p><p>Joey threw his fists down onto the bed, the coils in the mattress protesting.</p><p>He stared up at the ceiling blankly, regaining control over his breathing. What probably infuriated him the most was that Seto had done it purely out of revenge. Something as intimate as a kiss shouldn't have been used against in that matter. A punch? Maybe.</p><p>But not a kiss.</p><p>Gritting his teeth, he glared. "The fucks wrong with that guy?"</p><p>"With <em>me</em>?"</p><p>The voice that had spoken made Joey jump and he sat up, throwing a pillow at the king's head without thinking.</p><p>Seto easily dodged it, stepping to the side before closing the bedroom door to give them privacy. Joey's angry thoughts led him to think that it had been a wise decision. No one would be able to interfere when he fucked Seto's face up.</p><p>"Get out of my room!" he warned, ready to throw firsts.</p><p>Seto's always stoic face hid all emotions and instead of leaving, crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the blonde patiently. "We need to talk."</p><p>At the steely sound of Seto's voice, Joey had a feeling that they were about to have a conversation like the one they had in the dining room the first night that he was there. For that one though, Joey had been pressed up against a wall.</p><p>"We have nothing to talk about," Joey responded stubbornly.</p><p>"On the contrary, Wheeler. Do you think it's funny to humiliate me in front of millions of people? Did you honestly think I was going to allow you to get away with it?"</p><p>"Humiliate <em>you</em>? What about <em>me</em>?!" Joey spat. "This whole damn experience has been humiliating to me! You barged into my life as if you owned it, taking me away from everything that matters to me - and you just expect me to be <em>okay</em> with it?"</p><p>Seto rolled his eyes. "I am getting sick of your pity parties, Wheeler. Get the fuck over it already."</p><p>Joey hadn't heard Seto curse before, but instead of looking shocked, he crossed his arms mulishly. "No. I'm not going to 'get the fuck over it'. You have no idea how much I hate you!"</p><p>"The feeling is mutual," Seto said with a steely gaze. "However, I'm putting my differences aside and I'd <em>appreciate</em> it if you did the same. You're sabotaging my reputation, you do realize that? You make me want to kill myself, but I'm trying to endure it to fulfill what I'm trying to-"</p><p>"You have no idea what I have had to 'endure'!" Joey cut him off, standing from the bed with his mouth twisted into a snarl. "I have had no say in any of this! My father made me agree to the tournament. He just wanted to marry me off and get me out of his hair! He doesn't care who I go to? Did you notice how easily he let you take me? He just wants me gone! He hates me. He always has! You have no idea what you are talking about. So, for fuck's sake, stop acting like I'm over exaggerating! Or I have a vendetta against you! I don't fucking <em>care</em> about <em>you</em>!"</p><p>Seto was visibly taken aback by Joey's sudden ferocity towards his father, but Joey was barely paying attention. Joey wasn't even sure what he was saying anymore, it was all coming out in a rushed rage that he had even stopped breathing.</p><p>"<em>Calm</em> <em>down</em>," Seto finally spoke over his ramblings, but he didn't fully hear him. His head felt dizzy.</p><p>The fuck-</p><p>"Don't you fucking tell me to calm down ya bastard! You're just like him! Always thinkin' you're better than everyone else! Not caring who you mull over if you're on top!" Joey gasped for air but he didn't feel like he could inhale at all.</p><p>Suddenly, Seto was in his face and rough hands grabbed at his shoulders. Joey stiffened and tried to pull himself away from him, but he was terrified of the fact that he was unable to breathe. He grabbed at his neck, willing his oxygen to pass.</p><p>"Stop fighting, Wheeler! You're not breathing!" No shit. Of course, Joey still fought him to let go but Seto seemed to be stronger than him.</p><p>Realizing that he wouldn't be able to escape, not when he was unable to breathe, he stopped struggling. As soon as he forced himself to relax, he felt his windpipe open and he coughed. Seto let him go, taking a step backward from Joey. Most likely not to get hacked on.</p><p>"God, you're such a moron," Seto sighed in exasperation.</p><p>Joey scowled up at Seto as he caught his breath. "<em>Fuck you</em>," he managed to rasp.</p><p>"I don't have time for your sob stories," Seto relented passively. "You need to understand that no matter what could have or did happen with your father, it no longer affects us. You now belong to me and you will do as I say. So cry, throw a fit, do whatever you need to get it out of your system. Then, grow a pair and man up. If you don't care about my reputation, then care about yours. You made an <em>absolute idiot</em> of yourself on national television."</p><p>Seto turned for the door, ready to leave the bedroom but he paused at the doorway. "And if you don't stop trying to sabotage our engagement, I will be forced to do something about it. You're not the only one who has been taught to use your anger to achieve what you want."</p><p>At the mention of Seto's father, Joey's rigid appearance faltered and he stared after the king long after he had left the bedroom.</p><p>He let himself fall back onto his bed in exhaustion, still feeling winded from his anxiety attack. He still wanted out of the engagement. In no way did he want to be linked to Seto Kaiba for the rest of his life.</p><p>However, it seemed that no matter what move he made, Seto always countered it. Joey felt like he was losing a game that he was destined to lose. Over and over again.</p><p>Groaning, he wished he had one of his friends to talk to. Duke, especially. He was always there to give him a voice of reasoning and comfort. He'd never felt so alone or helpless before.</p><p>He had four more days until he could go back home. Would he be able to make it?</p><p>Suddenly, his phone ringing broke the silence and he jumped. Grabbing it from his nightstand, he put it up to his ear. No one had called him since he'd arrived.</p><p>" 'Ello?"</p><p>"Prince Wheeler." It was Rolland. "Please press the red glowing button on your phone receiver. A phone call awaits you."</p><p>"Uh… kay?" Joey replied in confusion. Who'd be calling him? Was it his father telling him he'd have to stay? Did Seto tell him that he'd been acting out to end the engagement?</p><p>Joey pressed the red button and cleared his throat. "This is Prince Wheeler."</p><p>"Joey? Man, it's you!"</p><p>"Duke?" Joey's heart hammered in his chest at the sound of his friend's voice. Did Duke have ESP?</p><p>Duke chuckled. "Yeah man, it's me. Any luck on getting out of there?"</p><p>Joey threw a glance over his shoulder at his door, making sure that Seto wasn't there to overhear him. "Duke, listen to me. I need to get out of here now. Ole moneybags isn't letting me leave and I think I'm going to be forced to live here. Is there any way you can help me out?"</p><p>"Live there? Holy shit. Yeah buddy, I'll get you out of there. Should I inform your parents?"</p><p>"No!" Joey cut him off quickly. "I don't need them involved in this until it's necessary. They have done enough, don't you think? They're the reason I'm in the mess."</p><p>Duke sighed into the phone. "I understand. Okay, I'll set something up. I can get there by one in the morning. Think you can sneak out at that time? I'll bring a horse for you."</p><p>Joey let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, Duke. You have no idea what this means to me."</p><p>"No worries. I'm just concerned about getting you home. I'll see you tonight."</p><p>"All right, bye." Joey hung the phone up and laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a racing heart as he thought about his escape and what it would mean.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Joey didn't sleep, but he pretended to just in case anyone decided to check on him. No one did, not that he truly expected them to. His eyes burned from staring at the clock next to him. He watched anxiously as each minute ticked by.</p><p>At exactly one, his heart flipped and he threw the covers off him.</p><p>He collected the one bag he'd brought with him that he had refused to unload since arriving. Throwing caution to the wind, Joey exited his room with a glance at Seto's door before tiptoeing down the stairwell.</p><p>Joey thought himself lucky. No one had shown up to stop him. He was glad that the whole palace seemed to be asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, Joey pulled the main door open and welcomed the fresh night air.</p><p>It smelled like freedom.</p><p>With one glance behind him, Joey made a break for it. He kept a trained eye on his surroundings for Duke and the horses.</p><p>Finally, he saw them as Duke appeared from the shadows to wave at him from a horse. Joey couldn't help but grin in response. He had never been so pleased by the sight of Duke until then. His gorgeous eyes, beautiful hair, and slender body.</p><p>Oh, how he had <em>missed</em> Duke.</p><p>Just as he was approaching them, a strong grip took hold of his arm. He swung backward unexpectedly and landed on a hard chest. Spinning his head around, he looked up into icy blue eyes.</p><p>"Oh shit," fell from his lips upon realizing who it was.</p><p>"You think?" Seto asked dangerously, his eyes narrowed into slits. He looked between him and Duke.</p><p>"I... I can explain!" Joey stuttered, not even bothering to wonder why he was intimated by Seto's presence suddenly. Maybe somewhere inside of him, he knew that Seto could stop him from doing anything if he wanted. He just didn't want to admit it.</p><p>"No need. It's obvious what you were about to do," Seto seethed, tightening his hand around Joey's arm, sending pain shooting through it. Joey winced and tried to pull free.</p><p>"Let go of me! I'm leaving!"</p><p>Seto gritted his teeth, his eyes shining treacherously down at Joey's furious ones. "You're not going anywhere. Didn't I tell you that I'd make sure you'd stay?"</p><p>"You can't make me stay!" Joey said while struggling in his grasp. "I hate you and you hate me! This would never work between us and you know it!"</p><p>"I told you before, Wheeler. I can force you to stay. Especially if you think you can undermine my authority. You deserve to be in a locked crate for your behavior."</p><p>"Let him <em>go</em>!" Duke's equally as threatening voice rang out into the night as he dismounted his horse to interfere.</p><p>"Stay out of this mongrel," Seto snapped at the guard.</p><p>Joey took the distraction as a way out and he hooked his leg around Seto's to take the man down. It worked and Seto stumbled, loosening his hold on the blond. Joey could successfully pull free and he made a run for the horses.</p><p>He heard Seto roar irately as he jumped onto the horse and began to untie the knot that Duke had used to hold the horses together. He saw Seto throw Duke out of the way and he made a grab for Joey.</p><p>Joey kicked him in the chest, sending Seto falling backward onto the ground.</p><p>"<em>Stop</em> Wheeler!" Seto barked, getting to his feet and fuming. His hair was tousled and his eyes were glowing silver.</p><p>He grabbed Joey's leg, making it difficult to keep balance on the horse. "<em>Let</em> go!" He wiggled his leg, trying to focus on untying the knot and keep upright. "Duke come on!" he shouted aimlessly at his guard who was about to grab Seto by the neck.</p><p>Duke jumped onto his horse just as Joey pulled the reigns free.</p><p>He now just needed Seto to let go.</p><p>Heart pounding in his ears, Joey tried to pry the long fingers off his leg.</p><p>"Stop fighting me, Joey!" Seto snapped up at the blond and Joey faltered at the sound of his first name on the king's lips.</p><p>Their eyes locked for a moment.</p><p>"<em>Please</em>.”</p><p>Joey swallowed a weird emotion that he couldn't place and tightened his grip on the brunette to shove him off, just as a new voice was heard.</p><p>"Seto?"</p><p>Everything stopped. The three boys looked towards the stone driveway to see a snow white-haired girl with a pale complexion. She looked at them all in horror.</p><p>"<em>Kisara</em>?" Seto questioned into the night, but it had been a mistake on his part.</p><p>Joey took the distraction as an opportunity and pulled free from Seto's clutches, shoving him away and sending him to the ground once more with a groan.</p><p>"Seto!" Joey heard the female shout. He threw his head around to see her run over to him and kneel at his side.</p><p>He was free.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Seto sat in his head chair of the dining room table the next morning for breakfast and not at all enjoying the uncomfortable atmosphere he found himself in. Mokuba was at his left as always and hadn't spoken a word to anyone since Seto had informed him of Joey's disappearance. The poor boy looked crestfallen and Seto wanted to wring Joey's neck for causing his brother to hurt. Didn't he realize how much he meant to the boy? Seto scowled down at his teacup, watching the steam rise with no interest. Of course, Joey didn't. He didn't think of anyone but himself. He was so busy throwing a fit over how unfair his life was to care what he was putting anyone else through.</p><p>And then there was the fact that Kisara was at his right, in Joey's chair – as Seto had seemed to think of it as. She too looked a bit upset, but Seto assumed it was because she wasn't being paid enough attention to. Her blue eyes kept wandering over to him with curiosity but she never said anything. It was starting to irritate him.</p><p>"Kisara," he finally said, breaking the awkward silence that had reigned on them for far too long in his opinion. The white-haired girl looked up at him with wide crystal blue eyes with hope swimming in them. He wasn't sure what she was hoping for, but he was positive it had nothing to do with what he was about to ask. "You never told me why you were here. Let alone, showing up at one o'clock in the morning."</p><p>Mokuba's stormy grey eyes lifted to Kisara as well just as her cheeks pinked from apparent embarrassment.</p><p>"Oh, of course! I'm sure my appearance was quite odd," she giggled, sending the tinkling sound echoing throughout the empty dining room hall. Seto almost winced and he was sure Mokuba's frown deepened. Laughter was definitely out of place at that moment.</p><p>Kisara seemed to realize she wasn't being thought of as cute, while Seto continued to level his gaze at her with no emotion at all. Her smile faltered. "Well, I saw you and your fiancé on television and I wanted to wish you a happy marriage. I left my palace as soon as I could and just happened to get there at that time," she explained and with the mention of Joey, Seto's eyes slid downwards to his teacup again. "If you don't mind me asking, though. Was the boy you were fighting with last night… was that him?"</p><p>Seto's shoulders stiffened and his eyes narrowed into a scowl. He didn't want to talk about Joey and he didn't want Kisara there. Her appearance had been the distraction that Joey had needed to leave and a part of him was blaming her for the blond's departure.</p><p>With Seto's silence, Kisara took it as a yes. She studied his face for a moment, seeing the heavily guarded expression he was making. Reaching over, she placed her hand over his to  him. Seto's hand tensed underneath her touch and he locked eyes with her. "I'm sorry, for whatever happened between you. You two seemed quite happy with each other."</p><p>Seto felt like that was enough and his anger with her along with his emotions towards Joey was piling on top of him. Pulling his hand out from underneath hers with a jerk, he glowered down at her. "You don't know anything about us," he stated firmly as he stood from the table and left without another word.</p><p>Mokuba turned in his seat to watch Seto leave before his eyes trained back to Kisara who looked stunned by his older brother's behavior. His grey eyes narrowed suspiciously. He had never trusted the girl. She was always hanging all over his brother whenever she was around and their father had always been doting over her and Seto from the get-go. It made perfect sense to him as to why she had suddenly shown up. She had seen Seto happy with someone else and had gotten jealous.</p><p>"<em>Why</em> are you here?" Mokuba couldn't help but ask and Kisara's blue eyes snapped to his.</p><p>"What on earth are you talking about Mokuba?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice that made Mokuba's toes curl.</p><p>The boy's eyes couldn't narrow any further. "You're here to make moves on Seto aren't you?"</p><p>Kisara feigned shock and placed her hand upon her chest for effect. "<em>What</em>? How could you say that Mokuba? I came here to meet Seto's fiancé and say <em>congratulations</em>. However, I have to say I am quite surprised by Seto's choice in <em>gender</em>."</p><p>Mokuba knew just by her innocent façade that he had hit it on the nose. Getting angry with the girl because he liked Joey a whole lot and was devastated over the fact that the blond was gone, he stood up and placed his hands on the table furiously. "You're <em>lying</em>! You don't care about Joey! You just want Seto! You always have! Well, I'm not gonna let you! Joey and Seto are going to be together!"</p><p>Mokuba's outburst must have made Kisara's act fall because her pretty face twisted into a malicious glare as she stood too. Grabbing the boy by his collar and forcing him to look into her eyes, she spoke in a low threatening voice. "You don't know what you're talking about, little boy. Seto is <em>not</em> homosexual, trust me. And I'm going to make sure personally that it stays that way. So stay out of my way or Seto's going to become an only child, got it?"</p><p>Mokuba refused to let her win and he struggled to get out of her grasp. When she didn't let go until he said something, Mokuba growled that sounded a lot like his older brother's. "I'm not scared of you," he spat.</p><p>Kisara's eyes flashed silver. "You <em>should</em> be."</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Joey's eyes were half-lidded and he was practically laying on the horse as they pulled up into the driveway of his family's palace. If he wasn't so tired he would have thought it was weird to be back home after spending a few days at a much fancier palace. As they came to a stop in front of the palace, he swayed and Duke was quick to jump off his horse to catch the blond.</p><p>Joey smiled drowsily and Duke gave him a half-smile before they entered the palace. The familiar aroma of his childhood home filled his nostrils until he smelled bacon. As Duke was leading him towards the staircase, Joey suddenly turned in the direction of the dining room and promptly began walking for it. Duke chuckled low under his breath as he grabbed Joey's arm, forcing him to stop.</p><p>"Joey, you need sleep," Duke explained when Joey gave him a sleepy questioning look. "You can eat whenever you wake up. Plus, I don't think it's a good idea to just barge in there to your parents and all. I have a feeling they aren't going to be happy with you for leaving before you were supposed to."</p><p>Joey sighed and nodded as his stomach gave a protesting rumble. Duke was right, but he wasn't going to be happy about it. He pouted up to his bedroom. Duke followed inside, making sure Joey didn't pass out on the way to his bed. He didn't thankfully, but he did collapse heavily onto his bed instead without pulling down the covers or anything. Or laying in it properly.</p><p>Despite his exhaustion, Duke helped Joey into his bed and made sure the blond's shoes were off and such. Joey happily let the brunette baby him, secretly enjoying his affection towards him. Whenever Duke was satisfied that Joey was going to be fine to sleep, he turned to leave but was caught by Joey's hand on his wrist.</p><p>"Stay," Joey mumbled, half asleep already.</p><p>Duke frowned, not thinking it was a good idea. He was a guard of the palace, it wasn't appropriate. Plus, Joey was technically still engaged to Seto Kaiba. Finding another man in Prince Wheeler's bed probably wouldn't sit well with King Seto. But, Joey's sleepy face was adorable and he felt bad for Joey's current situation. Joey had told him everything on the way home and he wished that he could make everything the way it was when they were children. It had been much simpler.</p><p>"Okay," Duke finally relented and pulled his shoes off before climbing into bed next to him. He closed his eyes and exhaled, and then felt Joey snuggle up to his chest. Opening one eye to glance down at the already sleeping face of Joey Wheeler – which in all honesty looked like: mouth open, hair tousled, and strange noises emanating from him – Duke couldn't help but smile and be glad that Joey was home.</p><p>If only they didn't have Seto Kaiba's wrath looming over them, as Duke was positive they would be seeing him soon.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>A soft knock on his bedroom door brought Seto out of his musings and thinking it was Mokuba, called out "Come in."</p><p>He should have known better, however, as Kisara opened the door and walked in. His eyes that had lifted to see her, narrowed and dropped back down to the floor. He heard her footsteps approach him before she sat down next to him on the edge of the bed.</p><p>"You need to leave," he bluntly stated without looking at her. He needed to devise a plan to get Joey back and he couldn't do that with her lingering around him.</p><p>"I can't leave, Seto. You're upset. I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do for you," she said quietly while emphasizing her words with a soft hand on his shoulder. "I'm here if you need to talk."</p><p>Seto shrugged her hand off of him and finally looked up at her through blank eyes. "I don't need to talk. There has been enough talk these past few days and I'm sick of trying to convince him. It has not worked. There needs to be action and that's what I intend to do."</p><p>Even though he had said he didn't need to talk, just speaking those words aloud made him feel better and confident. Even if he was telling Kisara his plans and she probably was confused anyway.</p><p>Her blue eyes moved over his face for a moment before her hand attempted to caress his back for comfort. "What you need is to calm down and think about this rationally before you go off and do something reckless. It's obvious to me, an outsider, that Joey doesn't want to be here. If he did, he wouldn't have left the way he did. Have you ever thought that maybe forcing Joey to marry you was not a good idea?"</p><p>Seto's guilty conscience began to pick at him as Kisara spoke the words he didn't want to admit. Of course, he had thought that. He had thought that from the beginning. They had gone from hating each other to being engaged overnight. He would be ignorant to think that Joey would fall to his knees and do whatever Seto told him to do. Joey wasn't like that, hence why they hated each other. Seto was used to getting his way with people and they do his bidding. So it was of course frustrating when someone didn't.</p><p>But he was refusing to admit defeat. Perhaps if he wore Joey down a bit, he would succumb to him. He just needed to go over to Joey's kingdom, drag his ass back home, and teach him to never do it again. It would be as simple as that.</p><p>Kisara watched Seto and saw the conflict in his eyes, but the returning stubbornness that reappeared had her troubling over it. "<em>Seto</em>…" she began in a caressing voice, her hand that he didn't take notice to still on his back slid upwards towards his neck. "I know you don't like discussing private matters but… I can't help but feel like you're wanting to marry Joey for an ulterior motive. It's not love. I can tell. You…" and the hand slid down the front of his chest. "… Aren't homosexual."</p><p>Seto's blood ran cold and he frowned darkly at the floor. He had been neglecting this topic with himself from the beginning. He didn't care that he had never had a sexual attraction for men before. He wasn't marrying Joey to have sex with him. He was marrying Joey to take over his country. He needed to expand into other lands to fulfill his self-decided destiny. The opportunity had risen itself up to him and he had no choice but to take it. If marrying a male was the way to do it, then he did it. Nothing stood in Seto Kaiba's way.</p><p>"You're right…" he admitted quietly, so low that Kisara had to strain her ears to hear him. "I'm not marrying Wheeler because of love. I need him under my control to take his country over. He's… just ruining things!" Seto grabbed at his hair with frustration, cursing Joey Wheeler over and over again in his mind.</p><p>Kisara pulled her bottom lip between her teeth nervously before scooting closer to him. Her hand slid downwards and smoothed over his abdomen. "You don't need him or his poor excuse of a country Seto. You could… have another country if you wanted power. <em>My</em> country."</p><p>Seto froze in the pulling of his hair ends and snapped his attention to her. He finally realized she had her hand on him again and he grabbed for it immediately while eyeing her. She looked anxious by telling him this and he frowned in confusion. "What are you saying Kisara?"</p><p>The corners of her lips pulled upwards into a small smile. "Well, I was just thinking that my country is probably the closest country to yours, power speaking, and is even more updated. If you and I were to marry it would be easy for us to take control over other countries… <em>together</em>."</p><p>Seto didn't know what to think after she said that and continued to stare at her, his hand still grasping hers close to his chest. She was correct in saying that their countries were almost evenly matched and if they were to combine, he was sure to be able to overthrow many countries with the proper persuasion. Including Joey's. It sounded… easy. Too easy. And he didn't like it. Nothing came easy, as he had learned a very long time ago from his father. Step-father.</p><p>At his silence, Kisara leaned forwards coyly and reached with her other hand to move his hair out of his eyes. He didn't flinch like one would expect him to. Kisara and he had chemistry and history. She had gained his trust in touching him when he was younger. "What do you say, King Seto?" she murmured, her words caressing him gently. "We could be indestructible. The most powerful couple and country in the world."</p><p>She was getting closer to him as he continued to stare at her, mulling her words of power over in his mind, her soft warm lips pressed against his and he realized what she was doing. And he wasn't objecting. He let her kiss him, letting her hand on his cheek slide down to his neck and produce goosebumps onto his skin. A familiar warmth spread over him and it only got hotter as their mouths opened to consume one another's taste. The hand that was holding her hand to his chest released her distractedly to take hold of her small hip and press her closer to him. She happily let him and slid her tongue along his to earn his deep breath out his nose that fluttered over her face.</p><p>It had been quite some time that Kisara and he had kissed, as this was not their first. They had even messed around quite often when she had come to visit, making sure to take advantage of every shadowy part of his palace. His step-father had pressured them at first, and he was positive her father had tried to set them up. It had worked, as Seto had never had a female's attention before and Kisara had been smitten with him from the beginning.</p><p>However, as her hand slid downwards over his stomach towards his inner legs, Seto forced himself to break away from her. He opened his eyes to see her flushed and disappointed face. "I'm sorry Kisara," he breathed and he stood to get away from her before she could continue to seduce him. "As tempting as this offer is, I can't. I've made my decision and I never go back on what I say."</p><p>Kisara was shocked over his rejection and it was written all over her face. He spun around to stare out his window, trying to calm his hormones. The blond-haired boy that had run out on him the night before kept flashing before his eyes. The kiss he had bestowed on him was unforgettable, despite the motives behind it. Never once had he kissed a male before, but in all honesty, it hadn't been repulsive. Joey had been angry of course, but caught off guard and had even responded a little to it before Seto had pulled away.</p><p>Kisara's plans were very enticing, too enticing. Power had always allured him, something that his step-father had drilled into him at a too young age. But he knew that if he kept on in his step-father's wishes that only destruction would come of it. With the death of Gozaburo Kaiba, Seto had made up his mind on how he wanted to run the country. Supremacy was one thing, but obliteration was another.</p><p>And if he had to pretend to be a homosexual, so be it. At least Joey Wheeler wasn't revolting. It could be a lot worse, he decided.</p><p>"I'm <em>going</em> to get Prince Wheeler back and nothing is going to stop me."</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Joey awoke and momentarily forgot where he was. Opening his eyes he immediately looked out the window to see the setting sun and the familiar scenery of his homeland. Breathing a rush of relief, he snuggled back into his pillow. And then he felt the warmth of a body that was pressed against him. Never before awakening to a body next to him, Joey felt horror spread through him and he automatically threw a punch into the stranger's body.</p><p>A loud yelp echoed through the room and Duke jumped at the harsh contact before falling off the bed haphazardly. Joey's brown eyes widened in realization and he clumsily got off the bed to make a snatch for Duke, to help him up.</p><p>Glowering up at his blond friend, Duke swatted Joey's hands away. "Get <em>off</em> me, dude! What the hell is your problem anyway?"</p><p>Joey's face turned crimson. "Sorry! I forgot you fell asleep with me!"</p><p>Duke shoved himself up and retied his band around his head. "Yeah well, stop and think before you start throwing punches."</p><p>Joey slumped his shoulders, feeling guilty. He had just punched his crush while waking up next to him in bed. How low could he feel? "Sorry, Duke. I might have a problem."</p><p>"Yeah, you do. You're rash," Duke said with a growing smirk as he sat on the bed to pull his boots on.</p><p>Joey immediately grew defensive at the remark, not liking to admit his flaws despite how spot-on they were. "Am not! I just wasn't expectin' to be next to ya when I woke up, kay? I thought I was still at Kaiba's… and…"</p><p>Duke looked up at him as his voice trailed off and he caught sight of Joey's expression. "Joey? Are you sure you're okay with being here? Last night, you were angry. I get it. But I dunno. Something is off."</p><p>Joey's face distorted into a façade of nothing bothering him before falling into a guilty slump onto the bed next to Duke. "I… well I kinda feel guilty. Kaiba hasn't been all that bad to me, I guess. A'course he's been controlling and all that, I knew he would be. But he is compromisin' with me and I think that he was tryin' to make the situation better for me. And I just… left him. Cause I was angry."</p><p>Duke eyed him for a moment, reading the immense guilt that was washing over his blond friend. "Well, you do make rash decisions when you're angry. Or hurt."</p><p>Joey sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I don't want to go back though. I don't want to marry him, Duke. I don't love him."</p><p>Duke threw an arm over his shoulders and Joey couldn't help but fall into his embrace for comfort. "No one said you had to love him, Joey. You just have to live with him. I know it is probably hard to do, as it's Kaiba, but because he isn't your biggest fan and is trying to deal with you, I suppose it'd be fair if you tried to deal with him." Duke braced himself for a defensive retort, but when he didn't receive one, he added, "It's your decision man."</p><p>Joey inhaled Duke's scent, momentarily getting lost within it, before exhaling his guilty emotions. "I need to get my mind in the right place, Duke. I'm all jumbled up like scrambled eggs, ya know?"</p><p>Duke chuckled and nodded his head, his cheek pressing up against Joey's hair. "I understand. And I think I might have the right solution for it. How about, instead of confronting your parents – since we all know how that's gonna go down – we could sneak ya out of the palace and stay over at Yugi's. Sound good?"</p><p>Joey's whole body lit up with his eyes at the idea and he perked up out of Duke's hold to grin. "Let's go!"</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>A small spiky-haired kid pulled open the door to reveal Joey and Duke in his doorway with goofy grins on their faces. Not expecting either of them, especially Joey, Yugi Muto jumped into Joey's arms and engulfed him into an attempted bone-crushing hug. However, with how small he was, it wasn't that tight, but Joey got the message.</p><p>"Joey! I am so glad to see you!" he exclaimed cheerfully as Joey hugged him back, picking him up before collecting him into a playful neck lock.</p><p>"How ya doin' bud? I feel like I haven't seen ya in forever!" Joey said just as happy before letting the struggling Yugi go.</p><p>"I know! With the whole marriage thing, I thought I'd never see you again. Aren't you supposed to be with King Seto?" Yugi questioned, clearly confused. His confusion only worsened as Duke grabbed his attention while silently trying to cut him off from the subject.</p><p>Joey was unfazed by it and shrugged his shoulders, easily putting Duke's fears of him relapsing into the guilt he had been experiencing back in his bedroom to rest. "I need a break. Know of any cool places I could stay to do that? My parents don't know I'm here."</p><p>Yugi's heart leaped at the idea. "Here's fine! Grandpa is in the kitchen making some tea. He'll be fine with you staying!" He said before leading them inside the small comfy house, closing the door behind them.</p><p>The smells of spices and herbs filled Joey's nostrils, sending him back in time to when he'd come and spend a few days there with Yugi to get away from his controlling father and way too meek mother. He had always been so thankful to Yugi and his grandfather for letting him stay. Solomon Muto was like a father figure to him, always there to give him advice or just to nitpick you into doing the right thing. And for Joey, that was always difficult for him to do on his own.</p><p>"Grampa! Guess who was at the door? Duke and Joey!" Yugi said all chipper like while beaming and throwing himself into a chair at the table.</p><p>Solomon was at the table himself and he looked up at the doorway to see Joey and Duke enter. At the sight of the old man, Joey ran over and grabbed Solomon into a tight hug, awkwardly so since the man was still seated at the table.</p><p>"Gramps! I haven't seen ya in ages!"</p><p>Solomon chuckled before pushing the boy off of him sternly. "Then obviously you've forgotten to control yourself," he stated, making Joey's grin falter guiltily before Solomon grinned with a laugh at succeeding in messing with the blond. "Just kidding. Good to see you, Joey! And you as well Duke."</p><p>Duke smiled in greeting, placing himself next to Yugi at the table. Joey playfully glared at Solomon. "Ya might be an old man, Gramps, but ya still got it," he said with a laugh and sat down as well.</p><p>Solomon smirked. "Of course I do. Yugi, why don't you make your guests some tea as well? I'd do it but my knees aren't feeling the greatest tonight."</p><p>Yugi jumped up and went to prepare them some cups as Joey frowned worriedly at Solomon. "What's wrong with your knees?"</p><p>Yugi rolled his eyes from behind the counter as Duke smirked knowingly. "Don't listen to him Joey," Yugi responded before Solomon could answer for himself. At which the old man proceeded to pout. "He's always throwing out guilt trips to make us young people do stuff."</p><p>"It's working isn't it?" Solomon grumpily retorted as Joey exchanged glances between Duke and Yugi before busting out into laughter.</p><p>"That's what I'ma do when I get old. Boss people around and blame it on my fragile bones!" Joey said with a grin, throwing his hands behind his head smugly.</p><p>"Let's remember this when he does become old. Then we can throw him off a cliff," Duke retorted, making Yugi and Solomon laugh as Joey glowered at the brunette.</p><p>"Hey!" Joey said, acting very defensive as Duke was supposed to back him up. After all, Duke was his crush… even if he didn't know it. Didn't that entitle him to be on his side? Maybe not. Oh well.</p><p>Duke just smirked over at Joey as Yugi appeared at the table with the steaming mugs of tea. As Joey took it from him, he immediately thought back to when he would have tea with Seto each night. Frowning down at the mug that was less fancy looking and much homier, Joey hesitated before taking a sip. Duke caught the expression and he nudged him with his knee, making the blond look up at him questioningly.</p><p>Duke just gave him a knowing look and Joey blushed, realizing he had been caught thinking about Seto again. He needed to stop.</p><p>"So do you want me to call Tristan and see if he can come over too? We could make a sleepover out of it, like old times," Yugi suggested with a smile as Duke stiffened up alongside Joey. The blond frowned over at his friend.</p><p>"I don't think Tristan would want to see me here, honestly," Duke relented, ignoring Joey's probing gaze.</p><p>Yugi blushed and looked down at his mug uncomfortably. Joey was deeply confused by this. "What's wrong? Why wouldn't he want to see you?" he asked, looking between Duke and Yugi.</p><p>Solomon decided to answer for the seemingly silent boys as they didn't look comfortable to explain anything. "Well, while you were at Pious, the boys went hiking. They ended up getting lost and Duke here ended up falling into a river. Mr. Taylor jumped in after him and ended up saving him, to be honest" –</p><p>"He performed CPR on him, mouth to mouth, and Duke punched him for it," Yugi finished quickly in a rush, with a weird look over to Duke. Joey's eyes trained themselves on the brunette who shifted under his gaze.</p><p>"It was a reflex. I didn't mean to hurt him," he tried to explain himself, a red color spreading over his cheeks as he refused to make eye contact with anyone.</p><p>Despite the growing jealousy that Joey was currently experiencing, thinking of Tristan's mouth on Duke's, the blond snorted. "And you say I'm rash."</p><p>Duke finally scowled over to Joey, thinking about hitting him in the shoulder, but decided not to since it wouldn't help his case at the moment. "I didn't mean it, Joey. And now he hates me," Duke said bitterly, before standing up suddenly and leaving the room.</p><p>Joey's heart caught in his throat and he watched Duke leave. Well, now the guilt was back. Just now it was on someone else too. He hadn't meant to hurt Duke's feelings. He had just been trying to lighten his mood. He too stood to go apologies, but Solomon reached out and grabbed Joey's wrist.</p><p>"Leave him be, Joey. He needs some time to think," he stated and Joey reluctantly sat back down in his chair.</p><p>"I'm confused," Joey admitted, looking over at Yugi. "Why is Tristan so angry at Duke when it was an accident? Tristan can be a hardhead at times, but it just doesn't make any sense to throw away their friendship because of it. Is there something I'm missing?"</p><p>Yugi frowned and tilted his head as he looked back at Joey. "You mean, you don't know?"</p><p>"Of course he doesn't know, Yugi. Even before he left for Pious, he hasn't been around as often," Solomon defended Joey who blushed with even more guilt at not spending enough time with his friends. "Duke doesn't know this, and I'm telling you this because I feel like you could help the situation, Joey. But, we suspect that Tristan has feelings for Duke."</p><p>Joey's whole body became frozen at Solomon's words and he went into shock. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open into agape. Tristan could have feelings for Duke? No. No, it couldn't be true. No, he liked Duke! And Tristan was a heterosexual, right? Right. No, they must have it wrong. It didn't make any sense.</p><p>"No," Joey accidentally let slip and the Muto's looked over at him. Realizing he had said it aloud, he quickly covered himself. "I-I mean, no way. That's weird. Tristan doesn't like boys."</p><p>"You haven't seen him in a while, Joey. Tristan has changed a lot since he came back from boot camp," Yugi said quietly, threading his fingers together in front of him on the table.</p><p>Joey had completely forgotten that Tristan had been sent to boot camp by his father a few months ago. Tristan and he had the fact that they both had controlling fathers in common. However, he felt for Tristan who had been made to become a soldier against his will. However, it didn't explain why Tristan had become homosexual.</p><p>Solomon read the easily expressed features on Joey's face. "The boy has been traumatized by what he has gone through, I'm afraid. He's lost all direction and his father has been quite the ungrateful man. He's even more defensive than he has been in all his life. I think he is quite confused by how he feels for Duke and is fighting it. If his father found out, it would be the end of him."</p><p>Comprehension finally came through for Joey and he slumped into his seat, feeling very sorry for Tristan. They'd been friends since he was a small child, along with Duke and Yugi. It was sad to know Tristan was going through an even harder situation than himself. With that revelation, he realized just how spoiled he was acting. At least he wasn't being made to fight, to kill. At any moment, if they were to go into a war, Tristan would be made to go off and fight. All Joey had to do was put up with Seto's mood swings.</p><p>That is if he went back to Seto.</p><p>"Oh man… poor Tris," Joey exhaled, rubbing his forehead.</p><p>"You all are still talking about him?" Duke asked, reappearing into the room looking better than he had before.</p><p>Yugi and Joey flushed guiltily, but the brunette sat back down with a shrug. "Eh, what the hell. Call him over. I've been thinking. It's probably best we confront this tension between us. Otherwise, it'll just drive a wedge between us all. And with Joey being whisked away by a strange king and Tristan being made to be a soldier, who knows when we'll all be able to hang out again."</p><p>Yugi perked up happily at Duke's decision and Joey gave him a wary smile. At least for now, he needed to put some things behind him and let himself enjoy being around his friends. Because Duke was right, who knew when the next time they'd be able to hang out together again.</p><p>"Yeah, and besides! Ya never know with Yugi, he might be the one to leave us all first!" Duke added with a wicked grin to the small boy who faltered in his pressing of phone buttons to scowl over at the brunette.</p><p>At the sudden lightness, Joey piped up. "Yeah, who knows, he could find some rich playboy and be the successor of us all!"</p><p>Yugi blushed brightly and ran from the room to call Tristan, as he didn't like the attention on him. Solomon chuckled under his breath at his grandson's reaction to the other boys' jabs. If Tristan were to come over, he was sure he wouldn't be getting any sleep. It would be like old times.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>"The prince's family are not aware of his arrival, master. It will be quite easy to succeed," a dark figure emerged from the shadows to kneel at a man's heels.</p><p>"Good. Bring him to me."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joey finally looked up from the blank stare he'd been giving his fingers as he and the rest of his so-called gang sat around a roaring fire. They had been done eating for quite some time and if it hadn't been for the fact he hadn't eaten all day then he probably would have noticed the tension right away. However, he had been noticing it for about ten minutes as no one spoke. The only action from any of them during this time had been their eyes moving back and forth awkwardly between each other.</p><p>Joey didn't get it. He'd known Tristan for his whole life. He was a hard guy, he had to be. Especially now, which he understood. But to turn your back on your best bud because you think you have a crush on him was just silly sounding. He had been publically gay for a very long time and had a crush on Duke. The latter was still a secret, but either way, it didn't make him hate the guy. Sure Duke and he had – lack of better words — duked it out on occasion, but he'd never turn his back on him. He loved him!</p><p>Nonetheless, Joey was surprised to not feel as much jealousy as he once thought he would. He had been in love with Duke for years and now that someone else had an interest in him, shouldn't it have made him angry? Upset? Something? But it didn't. And that was puzzling. His blond eyebrows furrowed and he looked back down at his fingers with little interest. Things had changed. He was technically still engaged to Seto Kaiba and he was a fool to think that the King of Pious hadn't affected him. He wasn't in love with the guy, but he did have a different perspective of him now that he was away long enough to think about it without Seto breathing down his neck every turn.</p><p>"Can't we go back to the way it was?" Yugi's voice broke the stiff silence and Joey looked up at him curiously. His violet eyes were downcast and his feet were shifting in the dirt below him. He was a poster child for uncomfortable. Yugi was never okay with confrontation and it was evident in his voice and the dusty rose on his cheeks that he was attempting to play mediator to hold his friends together despite feeling troubled.</p><p>"No," Tristan's harsh and surprisingly gruff voice answered. "That bastard over there still thinks he can hit people when they try to save their lives."</p><p>Duke's emerald eyes were held on Tristan's face with disbelief when Joey regarded his crush's reaction. "It was an accident, Tristan. I've told you that before. And I've also said sorry," Duke stated before exhaling dramatically. "I'll say it again if it makes you stop hating me."</p><p>Tristan only huffed and looked away from them all, clearly deciding on pouting instead. Joey rolled his eyes. Typical Tristan. "Look dude, Duke's saying sorry. It was an accident, can you just forgive him so we can enjoy tonight?" Joey asked the spike-haired boy. "I've just gotten back from Kaiba's and I was lookin' forward to hanging out with you guys."</p><p>Tristan threw a dark glare at Joey. "I'm sorry! Where were you when all of this was going down? Oh yeah, you were screwing around with Kaiba. So shut up Joey. You don't know what you're talking about."</p><p>Joey couldn't stop his temper from flaring and he was on his feet immediately, glowering down at his muscular friend. "Screwin' around – <em>You</em> don't know what you're talkin' 'bout Tris! I was forced to go there and you know it! You're being an asshole! Get over yourself and stop actin' like a pansy and man up!"</p><p>Tristan was now on his feet and standing a foot away from the angry blond, his glare firmly in place. "Did you just call <em>me </em>a pansy?"</p><p>Joey's eyes widened in shock as the atmosphere suddenly grew cold, despite being around a large fire. Red-faced, Joey couldn't believe what just came out of his supposed friend's mouth.</p><p>"Take that back, Tristan. Joey was just trying to help," Duke stepped between them, his green eyes flashing with wrath. But Joey didn't need his help. If Tristan wanted to act like an asshole, then he'd be treated like one.</p><p>Shoving his way past Duke, Joey threw a punch, landing it right in Tristan's mouth. "<em>That </em>one wasn't an accident. Learn the difference and maybe we can become friends again," Joey bellowed, watching as the brunette took a step back from the impact and was now clutching his jaw in pain. His chocolate-colored eyes stared back at Joey with an unreadable expression. A small hand that Joey guessed was Yugi's pulled on his arm, trying to get him to stop but Joey threw the handoff along with the flat out stare of disbelief over Duke's face.</p><p>"I'm taking a walk," Joey muttered heatedly before spinning on his heel and heading into the forest to the right of Yugi's house, ignoring Yugi's shouts to make him come back.</p><p>No, he couldn't face what he'd just done or what he'd just been called by the man that he had thought he knew. The man that had been like a brother to him. The rational side of him told him that he had struck out because he was fighting his attraction to Duke, or males in general, and had lashed out at Joey for it. But the hurt side was deeply wounded.</p><p>Kicking a nearby tree out of fury, Joey threw himself down against the trunk and stuffed his head in his fingers with his knees propped up. He had thought returning would be a better solution to his problem but it seemed to be just as troubling as it had been with Seto. Growling at thought of his captor, Joey grabbed at the ends of his hair with frustration. This was stupid.</p><p>And it was in this rage of confusion, hurt, and anguish that Joey accidentally fell asleep before he even realized it, propped up against a tree and everything.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>"What the fuck Tristan?!" Duke shoved the brunette hard, making him stumble back towards the log he'd been previously sitting on. "Why'd you call Joey<em> that</em>?!"</p><p>"He pissed me off," Tristan's only answer came out matter-of-factly, however, he still seemed to be dazed that he'd been punched. But he'd deserved it. Joey had been going through enough crap that he didn't need to deal with this too. Tristan rubbed his jaw, his exterior looking as angry as the guilt inside of him.</p><p>"You could have said anything other than that," Duke said angrily, not letting it go for an instant.</p><p>Yugi looked close to tears, fearful for his group of friends that seemed to be disintegrating in front of his eyes. "Guys, please stop fighting…" his small wobbly voice went unheard as Duke shoved at Tristan again. This time, succeeding in pushing him over and landing on his behind on the hard ground.</p><p>"Would you stop it, Duke? I get the fucking picture!" Tristan retorted, regaining his composure after he'd fallen.</p><p>Duke crossed his arms over his chest that was moving up and down from his breathing. "I don't think you do Tristan. Joey has been going through a lot of shit lately and you didn't have to make it worse!"</p><p>"<em>And I haven't</em>?! I get back from boot camp to be punched by my best friend for saving his life!"</p><p>"Guys please…"</p><p>"<em>It was a fucking accident</em>! But you know what? I'm not sorry anymore. You're acting like an asshole!"</p><p>"Well <em>do you</em> know <em>what</em>? I—"</p><p>"STOP! FIGHTING!"</p><p>Duke and Tristan both turned their eyes to Yugi who looked like a puffed up small animal that had done so to make itself appear bigger. Breathing heavily, Yugi busted into tears. "I hate fighting," he mumbled before turning around and leaving the two to fend for themselves as he returned into the house.</p><p>After that, Duke wasn't sure what to say. He was still angry as hell but after Yugi's outburst, it was almost not worth it. Joey had left, Yugi had left, and maybe it was his turn. "Great job Tristan. Now everyone's mad at you."</p><p>"Just me? You were the one who started the whole thing," Tristan said as if continuing the argument, however, his voice was lower this time and he didn't sound half as angry. He sounded resentful and Duke looked up at him curiously.</p><p>"You – it doesn't matter. I'm tired of fighting Tristan," Duke said with a sigh, running his hand over his face. "I'm done trying to apologize to you. I'm done trying to be your friend. I'm done caring because you don't." And then he turned to leave.</p><p>He hadn't even made it three steps towards Yugi's house before he was suddenly spun around and his lips were smashed against my warm hard ones. It took him two seconds exactly to realize what was going on and his eyes were wide open with astonishment. Tristan. Was. Kissing. Him. <em>What the hell.</em></p><p>Tristan pulled back and he stared hard into Duke's green eyes. "Does it look like I don't care?" he asked gruffly, his breath blowing out onto Duke's face repeatedly from how breathless he was. Duke didn't know what to say.</p><p>When Duke didn't respond to him, a bright blush spread over Tristan's cheeks and he tore his eyes off of Duke to stare at the ground beneath his feet. Duke sensed his distress and realized he'd been silent for too long. "I… uh…" <em>What do I say</em>? He wondered blankly. His mind didn't want to cooperate.</p><p>"Forget it," Tristan snapped and left, leaving Duke standing there watching him. Alone.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Joey's eyes slowly slid open but then snapped shut. <em>Ugh</em>, the light was blinding! Did he forget to close the curtains? Shifting, he realized he was sitting up. <em>Weird</em>. Popping one eye open, Joey was stunned to realize where he was and opened his other eye to look around properly. The forest. And the tree… the fight. Groaning, Joey went to stand up but was surprised to find himself unable to. Okay, he was sore, but he wasn't <em>that</em> sore. He'd slept in a cupboard one time to hide from his father and it'd been less comfortable.</p><p>Pulling himself away from the tree, he felt a bind around his middle. Glancing down at himself, he realized he was tied up by a thick rope. He was tied… to a tree? <em>Okay, I don't remember that one</em>, he thought.</p><p>"Good morning," a strange voice spoke from beside him. Joey's head snapped up to the voice, before zeroing in on the face of the owner. Platinum blond hair, light eyes, dark tan skin. Never seen him before. "I'm sure you're wondering why I tied you to that tree you're so fond of."</p><p>Joey's wide-eyed stare turned into a glare. "Why'd you tie me up and who are you?" he asked quickly and of course, indignantly.</p><p>"No one you need to worry about," the man said with an obscure laugh and he pushed himself off of the opposite tree that he had been leaning on to approach Joey, a wide smirk on his lips.</p><p>Joey snorted. "Untie me so I can kick your ass," Joey threatened, earning another laugh in his direction. Joey didn't get the joke. He was serious.</p><p>"Is that your sort of plea bargain? You're funny, Prince Wheeler," the man said with dim amusement.</p><p>"Wasn't supposed to be funny," Joey muttered from his glare on the ground. "What do you want with me?"</p><p>"All in good time," the man said with a shrug that told him that he couldn't care less. "I'm just here to collect you. I could have just kidnapped you in your sleep but what's the fun in that when I can take you now when you'd put up a fight?" he said dangerously with a wicked grin on his face.</p><p>Joey scowled. "You're not taking me anywhere! Now untie me!"</p><p>"Such petty orders from a prince that's bound to a tree," the man mused as if this pleased him. This pissed Joey off. The man moved around him as Joey struggled to be set free with a grunt. The rope was tied tight around him, almost giving him burns through his blue cotton short-sleeved shirt. He wished he would have kept his royal coat on, as it was much thicker and would have protected him.</p><p>A sawing sound was heard before the rope let loose and Joey struggled to get to his feet, despite the sore stiffness he felt from being in that position all night. Keeping his balance, Joey wished he had his sword on him but instead had to depend on his fists and-or feet. The man stood before him with a grin of anticipation. He was ready for him to fight him. What a weirdo.</p><p>Throwing the first punch, the man blocked him with his palm, before grabbing Joey's wrist with his other hand and pulling him in. Joey pulled his knee up quickly, connecting it into the man's gut before he could get too close. The man grumbled at it but didn't show any signs of pain. Then it was the man's turn to throw a punch which Joey moved out of the way from before it could get him in the face. However, he hadn't been ready for the second punch that ended up connecting him in the jaw, sending him backward onto the ground.</p><p><em>Damn</em>. That man had some strength.</p><p>"Come on Wheeler. I know you're better than that," the man taunted and Joey growled, standing up quickly and attempting to pounce on him. All the man had to do was take a side step and Joey lost his balance and fell to the ground again.</p><p>The man was making a fool out of him!</p><p>"Didn't your father ever teach you how to fight?" the man asked curiously as he once again blocked Joey's punch after he stood back up. "I'm sorry, but I have to say I'm disappointed."</p><p>"Shut up!" Joey raged, throwing himself yet again at the white-haired man who grabbed him by the arm and swung him around, his back harshly roughing up against the man's muscular chest. Joey struggled, trying to get out of the man's grasp but to no avail. The man was incredibly strong.</p><p>"If that's what you call 'putting up a fight' then perhaps I should have just taken you in your sleep when I had the chance," the twisted man replied into Joey's ear. "It would have saved us time as now it's been wasted."</p><p>And before Joey could utter any other word to reply, he felt a sharp pain in his head and he collapsed into darkness.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>The door slid open, revealing Joey's bedroom and Seto moved across the floor inside. The whole room smelled like the blond, making something strange twist up in Seto's stomach. He frowned deeply and continued over to the bed. The covers were thrown off the mattress as if Joey had made an incredibly hasty exit. Like he had wanted to leave this place if his life depended on it. Had Seto been that horrible to him? He hadn't treated him too much like a prisoner… did Joey hate him that passionately?</p><p>Not liking what these thoughts were making him feel, Seto, moved to the window and looked outside at the setting sun. It'd been almost a whole day without him there.</p><p>"<em>Get out of my way</em>," a growl-like voice barked from behind Seto, followed by a "You're in <em>my </em>way, thief."</p><p>Seto recognized both voices and turned around to see his two faithful guards, Bakura and Yami. They'd grown up together from the age of twelve, but all three had come from different backgrounds. Bakura, the tanned muscular white-haired man with a dramatic scar down his face, had lost both his parents in a war not far from Pious. He'd had to live off what he stole from the more privileged people until he attempted to steal from the Kaiba brothers on a day where they had escaped their step-father's clutches, not realizing that Seto was a Prince. He'd been caught by Seto and they had tousled. Seto had been ready to turn the boy in, but Mokuba had made him change his mind – taking pity on him. Bakura hadn't wanted their pity, but Seto promised him he'd never had to steal again if he agreed to be a guard for them. Bakura had reluctantly agreed.</p><p>Yami had been different though. Yami had appeared in Pious, looking out of place and not knowing practically anything. Bakura had found him near the guards' stables. His star-shaped spiky hair of multiplication of black and magenta, accented with bright blond bangs that ventured around his face and up through the black spikes, had taken everyone off guard. He was tan, like Bakura though, and Bakura was curious to know where he'd come from. Upon asking him, Yami didn't know. He only knew his name and Bakura assumed he had amnesia of some kind. He then took him to Seto, telling him that Yami didn't have a clue where he was or who his family was. Seto decided to get him onto the guard too, despite his better judgment.</p><p>As time went on, Bakura and Yami realized they weren't so matched to live together. Seto would constantly hear them argue or even fistfight. Seto would often go down and visit them for amusement when he was having a rather tough day with his step-father. And they had been like that ever since.</p><p>Unfortunately, Bakura hadn't met anyone from his kingdom and Yami still didn't remember anything before he was found.</p><p>When Seto's step-father died, he appointed them both to be his right-hand guards. Despite their bitter quarrels between each other, Seto didn't trust anyone else.</p><p>"Took you two long enough," he stated as he turned around to face them, to which Bakura smirked widely and Yami gave him a polite smile.</p><p>"Fuck off Seto," Bakura replied, to which Seto gave him a leer. Bakura was probably the only one to ever get away with saying such things to him.</p><p>"Prince Wheeler has left?" Yami questioned, getting to the point as his eyes scoped out the room before them all and Seto crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly to keep himself composed.</p><p>"Yes. And I'm going to be retrieving him," he explained smoothly as Yami eyed him curiously.</p><p>"So what, do you need back up or something? Is Wheeler <em>that dangerous</em>?" Bakura laughed, despite there being no humor in Seto's tone of voice.</p><p>Seto turned his steely blue eyes on the thief, not amused. "No. I need you two to watch Kisara and her guards while I'm gone. I don't trust them, knowing her father, and I would rather be put at ease that they aren't harming my younger brother."</p><p>Yami nodded with understanding as Bakura rolled his eyes, apparently not happy with being someone's watchdog for very long. It was obvious that he'd rather be in on some action. "Whatever," he muttered, knowing he'd do it anyway.</p><p>Seto nodded in thanks. "Okay. I'll be leaving in a few minutes." He turned his gaze on the floor thoughtfully, before noticing something smashed under the bed. Narrowing his eyes, he bent down to retrieve it to see what it was, fully aware of Yami and Bakura's eyes on him as he did so. Peering down at the necklace in his hand, he let the chain fall between his fingers. Dog tags – and as he inspected further, it had Joey's name written upon them.</p><p>"What's that?" Yami asked, taking a step towards Seto but the brunette stuffed the necklace into his coat pocket quickly before anyone could see.</p><p>"Nothing. Get moving."</p><p>Yami frowned at Seto as Bakura glared. "What a nice way to speak with your <em>supposed</em> friends," the white-haired man retorted sarcastically.</p><p>Seto passed by him swiftly towards the door, with a flash of a smirk. "No one ever said I was nice."</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>"We have to leave Marik!" a desperate voice hissed.</p><p>"He's not going to be happy if we return empty-handed," a familiar dark voice snapped back.</p><p>"We'll deal with that when it comes. My sister's probably already told him that we have failed. So let's go before they see us!"</p><p>A crack of a branch was heard in the distance.</p><p>"Fine!" Marik growled once last time before the area went quiet.</p><p>Joey's honey-colored eyes reluctantly opened, even though they didn't want to. Blinking a couple of times, he took in his surroundings. Still in the forest. Gods, he needed to get out of this place. He was tired of waking up and seeing trees. Sitting up from the awkward position on the ground, his head suddenly felt like it was splitting in two.</p><p>"<em>Fuck</em>!" he sucked in with a breath as he clutched the back of his head.</p><p>A sound of bushes being moved had his eyes darting in front of him, rapidly remembering why he was in pain and on the ground. That man! Where the hell was he? Without moving his head too much, Joey looked around him to try to spot him out.</p><p>"<em>When</em> I find that <em>mother</em>"—</p><p>"<em>Joey</em>?" a small voice rang through the clearing and Joey's eyes widened into large saucers, cutting off his angry muttering. A heart-shaped face appeared from the bushes, followed by a long mane of dark red hair framing beautiful green eyes. He'd never thought his younger sister could look so beautiful until that moment.</p><p>"Oh gods Serenity, I'm so relieved to see you!" Joey breathed out, almost choking on emotion as he struggled to stand up. Serenity rushed to his side immediately, her small hands smoothing over him to check for injuries.</p><p>"What are you <em>doing</em> here Joey? You should be in Pious with King Kaib—"</p><p>"King Seto," he quickly corrected without thinking about it, but then grabbed a hold of her into a bone-crushing hug, inhaling her flowery scent that he missed so badly. He just hadn't realized how much. "I came back. I couldn't stay there, Serenity," he explained as she pulled back to see his face. She frowned down at him.</p><p>"Father's not going to be happy," was all she said and Joey scowled, but then hissed in pain when the expression pulled on the bruise of his head.</p><p>"My fu – stupid head," he stated as he let her go to grab his throbbing head, his sister turning concerned for him. However panic began bubbling up inside of Joey, realizing that man could still be out there. He didn't want his sister there. "Come on, let's go – home," he decided, assuming he'd have to deal with his father at some point.</p><p>Serenity nodded and helped him up, listening to him curse at himself underneath his breath. "Joey, what are you doing out here and how did you get hurt?" She sounded really upset for him.</p><p>Joey gritted his teeth as he followed her out of the forest, down the path towards their home. "I was out with my friends, hanging out. I got into a fight with Tristan and came in here to cool off… I guess I fell asleep," Joey explained uncomfortably and Serenity giggled.</p><p>"Figures," she said with a shake of her head in amusement. Joey didn't mind her making fun of him his lips curved upwards. He was just glad he was there with his sister.</p><p>"Why are <em>you</em> out here then?" Joey questioned, getting ready to make fun of her back.</p><p>Serenity blushed and looked away. "I needed a walk. Mom's making me wear <em>frilly </em>dresses again…"</p><p>Joey couldn't help but laugh at that. It was good to be home.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>The meeting with his father wasn't going over so well and it quickly changed his mind. Upon entering the Wheeler mansion, he'd been confronted by his father immediately as he had been coming down the large stairwell for breakfast. He was not happy to see his son and Joey realized that he was in very big trouble.</p><p>"But this is what you wanted, Joey. You <em>wanted</em> to marry a man," his father pointed out to him, as if for the hundredth time since his birthday. Joey growled from the chair across from his father, wishing he'd stop saying it.</p><p>"This isn't how I wanted it to go, dad. I didn't want to be <em>forced</em>. Especially to Kaiba." Joey was desperately trying to keep his temper in check this time, wanting his father to take him seriously. It would do no good to have him yelling, even though every bone inside of him screamed to tell him to fuck off.</p><p>His father pinched the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb, clearly not wanting to speak about this as it was stressing him.</p><p><em>What did he have to stress over?</em> Joey thought disdainfully. He wasn't the one being made to marry someone he hated.</p><p>"Joseph you are a prince and the heir to the throne. Or have you forgotten that to act like an immature delinquent?" his father asked, sound tired.</p><p><em>Check your temper, Joey</em>, the blond reminded himself at the insult. <em>Keep your cool</em>.</p><p>"Of course I remember dad," Joey retorted, unable to keep a hint of malice from entering his voice as his and his father's eyes locked. "I don't want it this way, is all."</p><p>It was at that point that his father seemed to break and Joey saw his own temper on the face of the older man. "Don't you realize how you're portraying our country? Pious is the best organized, wealthiest, and modernized country in the world!" the King yelled as Joey shrunk in his seat, feeling as if he was a child all over again. He'd never made his father this angry before. "Do you know what it would mean for this country if we combined? Our country would be everything that my father wanted! I wouldn't have to worry about what will come of it once I'm gone, Joseph! And by you tarnishing it, you're ruining the fate of our country. How can I expect you to rule a country anyways if you're just throwing a fit over a marriage? I could have arranged you to marry a woman, Joseph. But no, I respected your orientation. I had the bachelors compete. Only the most fitting man would marry you. King Seto Kaiba <em>is</em>! So stop acting like such a child and man up! You're eighteen now, start acting like it and start thinking of our country instead of your own selfish feelings."</p><p>Joey was at a loss for words. His father had no faith in him to rule the country and that wasn't fair. He'd done everything that his father had told him to do, despite everything that he ever believed in. He'd allowed his father to control his life. And when one thing happened to be the final straw that Joey couldn't agree with, he was being told that he wouldn't be fit to be King… but his father was right. Joey hadn't been thinking about the country the whole time. He'd only been expressing how much he hated the fact that he had to marry Seto. Did that really make him unfit to rule the country? Was he too selfish?</p><p>Warm tears began to prick at his eyes.</p><p>Troubled now by his own guilt and insecurities, plus the pressure his father was instilling in him, Joey stood up and left the room. He couldn't do this. He couldn't be shamed like this.</p><p>Fully intending on locking himself in his bedroom, his arm was suddenly caught by a warm hand and he spun around with a glare, expecting it to be his father.</p><p>Duke.</p><p>His glare faltered. He didn't want to deal with last night right now. Too many things had happened since then.</p><p>"Joey… are you okay?" he asked hesitantly, full of worry as always. Duke cared a lot about him, no matter how much of a screw up he was. Joey's feelings for him suddenly came rushing back to him, making him unaware of what he was doing.</p><p>Before his thoughts could catch up to him, Joey went from staring at Duke blankly to grabbing the brunette and smashing their lips together. He didn't want to feel the way he was feeling. He just wanted to feel cared for, loved, accepted. Duke could give him that. He needed Duke.</p><p>The lips underneath his were frozen though, unmoving and Joey pulled away breathlessly. He'd finally done what he'd wanted to do for so long and for some reason, as Joey stared into Duke's wide, stunned eyes, he didn't feel any happier. He licked his lips uneasily, realizing what he'd just done. There'd be no going back from this.</p><p>"Joey why… why did you kiss me?" Duke asked seriously, staring at the blond intently.</p><p>Joey didn't know what to say and his mouth parted to speak, but no words came out. He felt like crying or screaming, but his insides were so conflicted that he did neither. He only just stared at his best friend in shock. He'd just <em>kissed</em> Duke.</p><p>Duke's hands clutched Joey's arms, not understanding what was going on with his friend. He was barely breathing and he'd never seen him this way before. "<em>Joey</em>."</p><p>"I'm sorry," Joey muttered suddenly before pulling himself out of Duke's grasp, but the brunette snatched at him before he could go too far, spinning him around to look at him again. Joey was such a flight risk.</p><p>"You need to explain," Duke demanded, his own mind spinning over the fact that two of his friends had kissed him in the matter of two days. He was confused himself with unidentified emotions.</p><p>Joey's cheeks reddened uncomfortably and the blond exhaled, unable to look at him in the eyes. "I've wanted to do that for a really long time," Joey admitted quietly but before he could say anything more over the matter they were interrupted.</p><p>"As touching as this, I'm here to take back what's rightfully <em>mine</em>."</p><p>The steely voice of Seto Kaiba ran down Joey's spine and he spun around to stare at his fiancé with disbelief. So he had come.</p><p>"Took you long enough," Joey coughed out, his honey colored eyes narrowing at the sight of the blue eyed brunette standing in the middle of the room in all his glory, wearing his light blue extravagant coat.</p><p>A dark eyebrow rose upwards and Seto looked at him inquisitively. "Waiting for me, Wheeler?" Seto taunted, approaching him and Duke slowly. The brunette held a glare on Duke for a moment before looking back at his fiancé. "No matter, let's go."</p><p>Joey pulled away from Seto before he could reach out to grab him, and he snarled at the brunette. "<em>I'm not going anywhere with y</em>"—</p><p>Suddenly, his father appeared in the doorway to the sitting room from behind Seto and the insults that wanted to pour out of Joey's mouth vanished with a nice smack of his mouth closing shut. His words returned to Joey swiftly and he instantly slumped with defeat. If he wanted to prove himself, he'd have to do this. He was fit to be King, dammit! He'd show his father and Seto!</p><p>"Fine. Let's go," Joey snapped as then shoved Seto out of the way to walk towards the main doors, promptly ignoring his father's prying eyes.</p><p>Seto didn't move at first, stunned at Joey's willingness to come with him. He'd thought for sure he'd have to take the blond kicking and screaming. What the hell was going on with him? Had someone knocked him upside the head and caused sense to spread over him?</p><p>Whatever it was, Seto didn't question it. The less he had to behave irrationally, the more he could save his energy for other matters.</p><p>"Joey <em>wait</em>! Are you serious?" and then Joey's annoying guard had to step in.</p><p>Joey turned around with his hand on the door knob. "I have to be," was all Joey stated, his eyes sad and taking Seto off guard before disappearing out the door.</p><p>Seto faltered in his steps at Joey's reaction, still not understanding where all this was coming from. He was obviously missing something.</p><p>"King Seto," a quiet rough voice spoke from a different room and Seto turned his attention from the door to Joey's father. Seto rose an eyebrow in question. Did he have something to do with Joey's behavior? Joey had said something about this man controlling everything Joey had ever done. Was this one of those things? He wasn't sure how he felt about it. "<em>Please</em>, take care of my son," the older man said stressfully.</p><p>Seto paused, not anticipating that. He didn't know what to say, so he nodded curtly before following Joey out the door.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: Before you read this chapter, Bakura could come off like he is sexually assaulting Ryou- BUT I just want to make it clear that although Ryou is naive and confused, he does have an attraction to Bakura. It is consensual, which is what makes Bakura even more interested.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joey exited his childhood home with a dark look upon his features, the door absently slamming behind him with vengeance. His father was a cruel man, telling him in so many words that he had to marry Seto to become king one day. It wasn't fair. But what else was new? He supposed it could be a lot worse, but he didn't want to think about it. He was too furious.</p><p>"Joey?" a small voice from below called to him and he snapped his head up from his brooding to see Yugi, wringing his hands together with two guards on either side of him. The previous night's problems suddenly flew back to him with dread.</p><p>"What are you doing here Yug'?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He felt vulnerable at the moment and he didn't want to accidentally lash out at the small boy. He wasn't the problem at hand. It wouldn't be fair to him.</p><p>Yugi sighed with relief when he realized he wouldn't be yelled at and Joey frowned but didn't say anything over the matter as Yugi was allowed to approach him up the stairs. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened… last night," he explained and Joey sighed.</p><p>"You have no reason to apologize, Yug'. It's all Tristan. So don't apologize for that piece of shit," Joey said through gritted teeth but immediately regretted it when a harsh blush spread over the small boy's cheeks as his violet eyes looked downwards uneasily. Joey exhaled. "I'm sorry Yugi… I"—</p><p>His voice broke off as the door behind him swung open. Yugi and Joey both looked towards it to see Seto exiting the palace, a strange expression on his face. But then he suddenly caught sight of Yugi and he frowned. "Yami?" No, it couldn't be. With a better look at the smaller boy, Seto knew he was wrong. This boy looked very similar to Yami, but the differences spoke volumes. Like there was less blond in his star-shaped hair, his eyes were larger, and he was not tan. He was paler than Joey.</p><p>Yugi looked confused at the name and Joey scowled. "This is my friend Yugi. Yugi this is… King Seto," the blond introduced distastefully.</p><p>A look of realization flooded Yugi's face and he nodded with understanding. "Uh, nice to meet you, King Seto," he said politely, but apprehensively. He'd heard a lot of terrible things about the brunette over the years from Joey and Duke.</p><p>"My apologies," Seto stated stiffly, taking a step forwards to stand beside Joey, who moved away from him immediately with a glower. "You look a lot like someone I know." Giving Joey a sidelong glance, Seto rolled his eyes at the stubborn angry nature the blond was exposing. "We should leave."</p><p>Joey practically growled at the brunette but began descending the stairwells past Yugi. Seto followed with a firm nod to Yugi, but the small boy stopped them both.</p><p>"You're leaving again?" he asked, almost fearfully.</p><p>Joey sighed, his irritated face falling into a mask of defeat. "Yes, I – I have to go Yugi."</p><p>Yugi's bottom lip trembled as he glanced over at the brunette. He didn't like the fact that the only friend he could count on these days was moving away with someone like Seto Kaiba. "I…" his voice trailed off with nerves, not knowing what to say. Was there anything to say to get him to stay? He was sure if there was then Joey would have already said it and would not be leaving. A small idea popped into Yugi's head but he didn't feel comfortable with it. He wasn't even sure if they'd allow it. Straightening up, attempting to gain confidence under the scrutinized gazes of Joey and Seto, Yugi tried again. "I'm coming with you."</p><p>Joey frowned dramatically, not expecting that from his friend. "Wha…t?" he said dumbly.</p><p>Seto then crossed his arms over his chest, not appreciating this invasion. "No, you're not." He'd just seen Joey kiss a different friend, what if this one was similar? He would not be allowing fraternization in his palace. It wasn't happening.</p><p>Yugi scowled at Seto's words and Joey was sure that he'd never really seen Yugi scowl. It was surprising and very gratifying.</p><p>"Joey can't go alone!" Yugi explained, ire threading into his wobbly voice. "H-he needs someone else. I can be there. I can keep him company when he's upset. I can make it so he's not so miserable. If you want this to work between the two of you then you should let me come! I'm his friend!"</p><p>Joey stared at Yugi as if seeing him for the first time. It'd be different than last time if he had a friend with him. He had been all by himself before and it'd been torturous. If he had Yugi there, he wouldn't feel so alone. He'd have someone to talk to besides Seto, Mokuba, or Rolland. It'd be… tolerable.</p><p>"He's coming, Kaiba. Whether you like it or not," Joey announced, making those blue eyes flash to him with annoyance. Joey stared back with just as much defiance. "If you want me to be okay with this then let Yugi come."</p><p>Joey watched Seto's jaw tighten painfully, his eyes hardening for a long moment. He glanced over to Yugi, the innocent boy who was trying so hard to be confident to help his friend staring at him with unease. He didn't know this boy like he knew Duke. But just by looking at him, he could tell that he wasn't anything like the dark-haired boy. And… he supposed it'd be logical for Joey to have someone from his home to make him feel better about the situation. As a part of Seto wanted Joey to feel more comfortable with the idea and he didn't want to constantly have to fight with him.</p><p>Sighing, Seto relented. "Fine. Might as well turn my palace into a hotel," he muttered before turning away to walk down to his car.</p><p>Joey stared at Seto's back with disbelief before Yugi grabbed his arm, breaking his widened gaze. "I'm here for you Joey," Yugi stated and Joey looked down into the wide loyal violet eyes of his friend. Appreciation and deep care for Yugi engulfed the blond wildly.</p><p>For the first time in his life, he felt hope within his future. But then he faltered with a thought.</p><p>"What about your Grampa, Yugi?"</p><p>Yugi looked away uncomfortably, releasing his hold on Joey. "He probably would be upset about it at first, but knowing that I am helping a friend would make it okay," he said with a nod. "Plus, his friend from Acuna will be arriving in a few days. He's been dying for adventure but he doesn't want to leave me by myself. This would give him an opportunity."</p><p>That was all Joey needed to hear. Grabbing the small boy into his arms, he hugged him tightly. "You have no idea what this means to me buddy," Joey muttered, a bit of mist appearing in his eyes. Yugi squeaked.</p><p>"I can't – breathe!" Yugi gasped and Joey dropped him immediately, giving him a cheesy grin.</p><p>"Sorry 'bout that."</p><p>"Come on you saps!" Seto's voice called back to them and Joey glared but Yugi just smiled.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Silence filled the back of the sleek black car. In the first couple of hours, Seto had been lost in his thoughts to care about it. However, he knew from experience with the blond next to him, silence had never been something Joey was successful with. The fact that he was quiet was beginning to wear down Seto's mind. What had happened? Why was Joey okay with this and why was he not fighting him anymore? It all didn't make sense. Was it because he'd made his friend Yugi sit up in the front with the driver? He had been hoping to have a civil conversation with the blond without distractions.</p><p>Nonetheless, Seto's pride kept him from questioning the boy about it. He'd most likely find out soon enough. Maybe once Joey was settled back into the mansion then he'd return to his normal obnoxious self.</p><p>Wait, what was he thinking? Since when did he complain about Joey being too well behaved? Hadn't that been what he had wanted from the beginning?</p><p>Frowning at himself, Seto chanced a glance over at Joey. He was turned away from him completely, his long blond hair hanging in his face to cover up any expression he might have had as he stared out the window. Seto held back a sigh but breathed deeply instead. Joey's familiar scent filled his nostrils immediately and he closed his eyes momentarily without thinking about it. He didn't want to think about it.</p><p>Joey shifted in his seat and Seto's eyes popped back open to look at him again. He still wasn't looking in his direction. Why did he want him to look in his direction? Seto didn't want to think about that either. The blond was giving him too much trouble and he wasn't even doing anything. And what the hell had that been about with him kissing his guard? The anger that had welled up inside of him when he'd witnessed that had been overwhelming. Joey was his, whether he or anyone else liked it or not. No one would be kissing him except himself.</p><p>That is if that ever happened again. Seto liked to think that it wouldn't be necessary.</p><p>Needing to get his mind off of these certain subjects, Seto did something that he thought he might regret.</p><p>Casual conversation. "Mokuba missed you," he stated, his quiet voice sounding louder in the silent car.</p><p>He watched as the blond visibly tensed up, before shifting uncomfortably in his seat without saying anything. Seto scowled, realizing he'd been anticipating a remark from him. This was dumb.</p><p>"He'll be relieved to see you," Seto tried again, keeping his voice even despite the annoyance he felt.</p><p>Again. Nothing.</p><p>Seto then scoffed, leaning back in his seat with irritation. It was only when he turned towards his window that Joey finally looked over at Seto with an unreadable expression. Too bad Seto hadn't caught it.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Bakura leaned up against a doorframe, his thin lips curved upwards into a smirk as he watched a smaller white-haired boy fiddle around with a small ball on the floor. He'd been listening to the small chatter that the boy had been muttering for a few minutes now, as he, like a predator, awaited the right moment to confront him.</p><p>The thief had taken his role to watch over Kisara and her guards seriously. A little too seriously if you asked Yami, but he didn't understand. For the past day or so, he'd been fascinated by a certain boy who was one of Kisara's guards. Didn't seem like a guard to him, but maybe he had other contributions to him that were not overly obvious. Either way, Bakura found himself wanting to find these sorts of things out.</p><p>Without the boy knowing, he'd been observing him from afar. He'd overheard one of the other guards call him Ryou, something that Bakura wasn't surprised to hear. Cooling, refreshing, and-or distant did seem to describe the boy. He'd caught a few glimpses of his innocent-looking face, which was pale with large dark chocolate eyes. Simply beautiful to look at, if you asked him.</p><p>He was in love with his hamster too. Which was cute as hell… but he'd never admit it.</p><p>Breaking Bakura from his thoughts, Ryou stood up quickly with the ball and walked over to a small brightly colored cage off on a shelf. Did the boy bring the cage and everything with him? Adorable.</p><p>Suddenly, Ryou turned around and froze in horror. Bakura hadn't had any time to disappear, but he didn't want to. His smirk widened a fraction as he pushed himself off of the door frame to stand up correctly.</p><p>"Hello," Bakura said in delight and he thought for a second that Ryou might scream.</p><p>But he didn't.</p><p>"W-who are you?" Ryou asked shakily as Bakura watched a strawberry blush spread over the boy's pale cheeks deliciously.</p><p>"The name's Bakura," he said proudly, stepping into the room. His smirk widened as the boy backtracked into the table behind him in fright. Was he that scary? He'd never noticed. Bakura continued to advance on him, making Ryou's eyes widen even farther if that were possible. Bakura's smirk couldn't help but broaden.</p><p>"Afraid of me?" he questioned in a low gruff voice, watching pleasantly as Ryou visibly shuddered in front of him. Either from his voice or nearness, it didn't matter.</p><p>"N-no," Ryou whispered, definitely not sounding convincing enough for Bakura who chuckled, his hands grabbing a hold of the table on either side of Ryou, locking him in. The boy realized this and paled, his anxious eyes staring intently up at Bakura. From this position, Bakura realized how short he was. Not as short as Yami, but Bakura was pleased.</p><p>"Oh I don't know about that little Ryou," Bakura murmured huskily, his violet eyes glancing downwards at Ryou's mouth as it parted to gape at the larger man breathily.</p><p>"H-how do you know my n-name?" Ryou asked him with trembling lips and Bakura regained his arrogant grin.</p><p>"I've been watching you," Bakura answered matter of factly, watching Ryou become stunned all over again.</p><p>"Why?" he questioned, for the first time sounding confident in his voice. It sent sparks of heat down Bakura's body. He needed to hear it again.</p><p>"You're not much of a guard, are you?"</p><p>A dark flashed passed in Ryou's eyes and Bakura was riveted by it as his head leaned downwards towards the pink parted lips of the smaller boy in front of him, completely at his mercy. "W-what are you talking about?"</p><p>"Bakura!"</p><p>The white-haired man growled and pushed himself away from Ryou regrettably, turning to look at Yami who was in the doorway giving him a look of disapproval. Like he needed his approval anyway.</p><p>"King Seto's back," Yami stated bluntly and Bakura along with Ryou straightened up at the announcement.</p><p>Playtime would have to wait.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>"Oh, Seto! I thought something might happen to you!" Kisara's wickedly sweet voice rang out throughout the parlor room and Joey stood beside his fiancé silently, before the white-haired girl threw herself at Seto as the brunette barely had time to catch her. Yugi stood off to the side uncomfortably, his eyes averting the scene before him.</p><p>Joey narrowed his eyes, however, recognizing the woman from the night he'd left and not understanding why she was still there. Was she one of Seto's friends? For some reason, the blond would have thought that Seto's friends – if he had any – wouldn't be wearing outfits that exposed the top half of her breasts and too much thigh. Let alone be female.</p><p>"Why would something happen to me?" Seto asked, gently pulling her arms off of him. She stepped back with a glance in Joey and Yugi's direction, eyeing them both up for a moment before turning back to Seto as she grabbed his arm. Joey's eyes zeroed in on the action before looking at Seto's stoic face for a reaction. Of course, you could never read anything on the man's face.</p><p>"You just never know Seto," Kisara answered simply and Joey didn't like how she said it. Why would something happen to Seto in his country?</p><p>"I suppose you're right," Seto sighed while patting her hand, raising Joey's temper a little. Did he have to enable it? Finally, the blue eyes looked over at Joey. "Have you met Prince Wheeler?"</p><p>Joey straightened up as Kisara too looked over at him as if realizing she'd have to communicate with him. Oh, it must be terrible, Joey thought bitterly.</p><p>"Actually no, I haven't," she said with a small shake of her head, a tiny barely noticeable smile gracing her features as she held her hand out in his direction. "I'm Princess Kisara of Cassius."</p><p>Joey has a flash vision of smacking her hand away and grabbing her by that long ass hair and throwing her out into the night, but he shook himself and forced himself to grab hold of her hand, his grip harsher than what it should have been.</p><p>"Prince Wheeler of Ghaffar and this is my friend Yugi Muto," he said while gesturing to his friend who shifted uneasily beside him. "I saw you a couple of nights ago at one o'clock in the morning," Joey added suspiciously, as he still did not understand why she had just suddenly appeared that night.</p><p>Kisara held his gaze until she laughed in amusement. Joey didn't get the joke. "Oh yes! That's right. You were trying to escape Seto," she remarked back, passing it off as humorous but Joey wasn't ignorant to her cunning edge.</p><p>Joey refused to look reactant and so he took his hand back swiftly, wanting to get away from the woman as fast as possible. "I'm going to look for Mokuba," he stated roughly, "Come on Yugi." Joey then led the smaller boy up the stairs, feeling the burning gaze belonging to Seto on his back the whole time.</p><p>"So this is the Kaiba palace? It's… huge," Yugi commented freely after they were alone upstairs.</p><p>Joey snickered with a nod. "Right? It's like the only thing that could hold Kaiba's ego," which Yugi laughed at.</p><p>"Yeah, I get that," Yugi replied before thoughtfully asking, "Who do you think that girl is to Seto?"</p><p>Joey grimaced immediately with a shrug. "I don't know. She showed up as I was leaving…"</p><p>Yugi glanced casually over at his friend who was scratching the back of his head, a slight look of pain on his features. "Are you okay?"</p><p>Joey's eyes darted over to his friend distractedly before nodding, dropping his hand back to his side. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache…" he muttered, not wanting to freak Yugi out by telling him about what had happened in the forest that morning.</p><p>Yugi seemed to believe him with a nod as Joey ultimately made it to the game room, expecting Mokuba to be there. He suddenly felt nervous though, wondering if the young prince would be mad at him for leaving. He'd never liked the fact that Mokuba had become attached to him almost immediately of him coming here. It left room for hurt feelings and Joey hated to be the one to be the victor.</p><p>Opening the door, he frowned when he noticed the lights were off. Flipping the switch he looked around the room, with Yugi peering over the doorframe. "Mokuba?" Joey called out.</p><p>"I don't think he's in here Joey," Yugi murmured at his side and Joey nodded before retreating to the hallway.</p><p>"Weird. I wonder where he is," Joey replied absently and a bit confused. Rolland then appeared out of a room and caught sight of them.</p><p>"Prince Wheeler!" he said with surprise, walking briskly towards him and Yugi. He hadn't been expecting him to return. And with someone else. But it didn't matter at the moment and he looked at Joey with fearful eyes. "I can't find Prince Mokuba."</p><p>Joey immediately felt dread at the words.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Rolland, Yugi, and Joey split up to find him. Joey checked Mokuba's bedroom first, as it seemed like the most practical place for the smaller Kaiba boy to be. Nothing. Schoolroom. Nothing. He checked the game room again. Nothing. It was then that Joey was panicking.</p><p>Seto had left Mokuba with that woman the whole time? Surely nothing bad had happened, right? There were plenty of people that worked around the palace that would have noticed if Kisara would have done something to Mokuba. But Rolland hadn't even been able to find him.</p><p>Who would do something to Mokuba? He was the sweetest little boy on the planet. He even had Seto Kaiba wrapped around his finger.</p><p>"I told you no already Kisara," Seto's irritated voice broke Joey's worried thoughts and he rushed towards the sound.</p><p>His sudden appearance back into the parlor room had both sets of blue eyes on him sharply. Joey ignored it, his heart racing uncontrollably. "Mokuba's missing," he said in a rush.</p><p>The look Seto gave him sent shudders down his back. There was no mistaking what the smaller boy meant to him.</p><p>Seto advanced on Joey, grabbing him by the shoulders and staring hard into the blond's eyes. "You checked everywhere?" he asked roughly, his silver flashing over his irises.</p><p>"Everywhere that I could enter," Joey stated quickly, sharing the feeling with Seto at that moment. Something clicked into Seto's head and he released Joey to rush up the stairs.</p><p>Joey had never seen him move so quickly and gracefully.</p><p>Joey dashed after him, hearing small clicks behind him that told him Kisara was following. He tried to focus on finding Mokuba than dealing with that aggravating woman. Joey wasn't sure where Seto was running, but he recognized it when they came to a stop in front of large familiar doors.</p><p>The garden.</p><p>Joey and Kisara both watched Seto take the necklace he wore under his coat out and pressed it to a pad on the door, before watching as the doors slid open fleetingly. Seto was inside before Joey could fathom it.</p><p>Deep blue eyes darted around the garden, before falling on a heap of dark hair. Seto was at Mokuba's side in a flash, Joey and Kisara hot on his heels. Touching the boy's shoulder, Seto prayed that the boy was okay. Stormy gray eyes opening tentatively had him breathing in a sigh of relief, grasping the boy into his arms quickly. "What are you doing here?" Seto's emotional jagged voice murmured.</p><p>"Seto!" Mokuba's breathless voice gasped into his shoulder, holding his older brother tightly. "You're home! I missed you." Seto's hands ran over his unruly mess of black hair as Mokuba looked over his brother's shoulder to Kisara and then to Joey. Eyes lighting up even brighter, Mokuba let go of Seto to throw himself into Joey's unexpected arms. "Joey! You're back! I knew Seto would bring you back! I just knew it!"</p><p>Seto stood up, gazing down at his brother hugging his fiancé. Joey looked stunned and a little relieved. Had he been worried Mokuba wouldn't accept him back? Seto crossed his arms over his chest uneasily. Joey did care about how Mokuba felt. He wasn't that selfish.</p><p>"Yeah bud, I'm back," Joey said happily, clutching the boy to him. "I couldn't stay away too long. Someone has to kick your butt at racing."</p><p>Mokuba laughed and pulled away with an enthusiastic grin. "In your dreams!"</p><p>"Have you been hiding in here the whole time?" Kisara rudely interrupted, her eyes scattered around the garden as she hadn't seen it before. Ha! Joey thought. I have!</p><p>Mokuba's smile faltered, glancing at Seto uncomfortably. "I… I just missed you, big brother."</p><p>Joey knew that there was something else going on and he wanted to know what. However, before he could say anything over the matter, Mokuba perked up again. "I'm starving! Let's have dinner to celebrate!"</p><p>Seto too felt like this was odd, but he didn't want to upset his younger brother so he smiled strain fully. "Okay, Mokuba… go tell Rolland that we are ready for dinner. I'm sure he's been worried about you."</p><p>Mokuba looked up at his brother guiltily before rushing out of the room. Now alone with Kisara and Seto, Joey glanced at them uncomfortably before locking eyes with his fiancé. The fact that they had both been terrified about Mokuba's disappearance seemed to set in. And Joey looked away with a small blush.</p><p>"I'm gonna go find Yugi," Joey muttered before turning on his heel and leaving them.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Yugi had no idea who Mokuba was or what he even looked like, but Rolland had informed him that he was the younger brother of Seto. He hadn't even known Seto had a brother. However, the fact that he had gone missing had even sparked fear inside Yugi. It was obvious by Joey's reaction that the blond cared for the boy and so Yugi took it upon himself to help.</p><p>Nonetheless, it didn't take Yugi long to realize he was lost in the gigantic palace. He couldn't hear Joey or Rolland's worried calls for Mokuba anymore and he wondered if they had found him or if he was just really that lost. He was on the bottom floor of the palace, he knew that because he'd went down a flight of stairs. Looking around, he realized he was in some kind of sitting room. Perhaps if he just stayed there then Joey would come looking for him and find him.</p><p>Yugi sighed and looked around the room curiously while he waited for Joey. There was a large painting of Seto with a small black-haired boy above an immaculate marble fireplace. Yugi peered up at it, assuming that this boy was Mokuba and the corners of his lips turned upwards. The smaller boy was the exact opposite of Seto, it seemed. The large grin on his face was evident enough.</p><p>Stroking the marble mantle, Yugi couldn't help but realize that he was a long way from home. His grandfather had been happier for him that he was leaving than he was when they had stopped by his house to inform him.</p><p>"This is your adventure Yugi!" he had stated. Yugi shook his head at his Grampa with small amusement.</p><p>"Are you authorized to be in here?" a dark voice spoke from behind him and Yugi practically jumped out of his skin at the sound with a yelp.</p><p>Turning around, Yugi stared at a man in the doorway and immediately was swept away by his appearance. Their hair was similar which was odd in itself since he'd never seen anyone else with this sort of hair. He was tanned nicely, contrasting his pointed crimson eyes and sharp features. Even from across the room Yugi could tell he was short but still taller than himself. It was enough to mesmerize him and send his heart racing.</p><p>"I… no – Joey – Mok – sorry!" Yugi blurted out incoherently from embarrassment, shock, and fright.</p><p>The man stepped into the room, making Yugi back away immediately. The man stopped advancing when he realized he was scaring Yugi and then he… smiled? What the heck was he smiling for?</p><p>"Who are you?" the man questioned and Yugi heard the authority in his voice along with kindred amusement, it made Yugi blush harder.</p><p>"Y-Yugi. I-I'm from Ghaffar – I-I came with J-joey," Yugi defended himself pathetically. "I mean, P-prince Wheeler!" he added as an afterthought.</p><p>"Really?" the man asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. "How can I believe you?"</p><p>Yugi's eyes widened. Did he not believe him? "I'm t-telling the truth! Honest!"</p><p>The man smirked and Yugi's fear soon turned into slight irritation. The man approached him again and Yugi's fear returned quickly as he took another step backward away. This time the man didn't stop and Yugi's back was pressed against the wall before he knew what was happening.</p><p>"Then why are you in here… Yugi?" the man asked curiously and Yugi absently shuddered at the sound of his name being released from that dark voice.</p><p>"I… well, I was helping Joey find… Mokuba," he tried to explain, but it came out sounding a lot like a whisper. But the man heard and his behavior swiftly changed.</p><p>"Mokuba? Why were you looking for him? Is he missing?" the man asked, becoming professional all of a sudden and sounding a bit worried as well.</p><p>Yugi swallowed harshly but felt relieved when the atmosphere altered. "Yes. I got lost though…"</p><p>The man eyed Yugi for a moment before sighing. "I'll believe you, but you must come with me to find King Seto. Got me?"</p><p>Yugi nodded immediately but refused to leave the wall. The man stared at him, before rolling his eyes. "Are you coming or am I not going to believe you? Because in that case, I will have to arrest you for trespassing and breaking into the King's palace."</p><p>Yugi blushed profusely and stumbled off the wall, rushing out the door before the man could even turn around. It was only then that he chuckled before following the small boy out of the room.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>"Damn palace. Why do you have to be so fuckin' big?" Joey muttered under his breath as he descended the large stairwell into the parlor, but then saw Yugi, with another man who looked very similar to his small friend, enter from the sitting room.</p><p>"Yugi?" he called, quickening his steps towards the boy who looked up with relief when he saw his blond friend. The other man eyed both of them curiously.</p><p>"I found him wandering the sitting room, apparently lost," he explained before locking eyes with Joey. "Did you find Mokuba?"</p><p>Joey nodded hastily. "Yes, thank god. He was in the garden… um, sorry but who are you?"</p><p>The man bowed slightly and Joey felt awkward, not liking it when people bowed to him. "I'm Yami, King Seto's head guard. We seemed to have not met before as King Seto informed me and my partner to not enter the palace during your stay."</p><p>Joey frowned in disapproval. "Why would he do that?"</p><p>Yami suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable. "He wanted you… to himself. Without distractions."</p><p>Joey didn't like that answer and his anger with the brunette fired up once more. "Well, he can go f"—</p><p>"What was that Wheeler?" a snide voice from behind him catching him off guard. Joey spun around with a red-faced glower, turning it even more ferocious at the sight of Kisara hanging off of his arm.</p><p>"King Seto… You've returned," Yami diffused the situation as Seto and Kisara approached them all. Seto eyed his guard then glanced at Yugi, feeling strange as he saw them side by side. They looked so similar it was weird.</p><p>"Yes," Seto stated, attempting to wrench himself free from Kisara's binding grip. "Obviously. And… despite my brother going M.I.A., how was everything while I was gone?" he asked pointedly, his eyes glancing at the woman beside him.</p><p>Yami refrained from glancing in her direction to keep her out of the loop. "Everything seemed to be fine, your majesty. Unfortunately, I was unaware of Prince Mokuba's disappearance, as he had informed me that he would be in his bedroom studying."</p><p>Seto held back a snort and Joey tried not to snicker. Mokuba never studied. That was a bald-faced lie.</p><p>"Interesting," Seto murmured before Rolland entered the room.</p><p>"Dinner is served," the older man announced.</p><p>"I'll just be going then," Yami muttered, before bowing low. Seto nodded to him before the man left the palace and the brunette eyed the three in front of him. He probably would have invited Yami to join them, but he was feeling like there were entirely too many people in his palace. If he had it his way, Joey and Mokuba would be the only ones there. Maybe Rolland too.</p><p>"I need to speak with Prince Wheeler," Seto grounded out, and when Kisara and Yugi both still stood there Seto rolled his eyes. "Alone."</p><p>Kisara stiffened unbeknownst to the brunette before spinning on her heel and leaving for the dining room. Yugi looked to Joey warily, not knowing if he trusted them alone together. Joey tore his eyes off of Seto to attempt to give Yugi a reassuring look.</p><p>"I'll be fine, Yug'," Joey replied quietly and Yugi nodded, still not wanting to leave his side. But he did anyway, glancing at Seto before disappearing into the dining room as well.</p><p>Now alone, Joey crossed his arms over his chest and adverted his narrowed eyes from the brunette. "Whatever you want to talk about, I'm not interested. I'm here because I have to be, that's it."</p><p>Seto stifled his irritation and stuffed his hands into his coat pockets as he viewed the blond in front of him. A sudden flash of him kissing that guard of his roamed behind his eyes and he almost snarled at the reminder. "So you're in love with that guard." It wasn't a question but Joey stiffened visibly.</p><p>"That's none of your business," Joey snapped, his brown eyes flashing at the taller man in front of him.</p><p>The defensive remark answered Seto's unasked question and he glared at the blond. "I'll take that as a yes."</p><p>Joey fumed then. "So what if it is?! You can't control who I"—Joey was against the wall with Seto pressing against him so fast that he had missed him advancing on him with just a blink of his angry eyes.</p><p>"You are mine," Seto seethed at Joey, a little over a whisper. A dangerous, whisper. Joey's heart was erratically racing against his chest, his breathing heightening. Seto's face was so close to his that he could feel his hot breath against his cheeks. And he didn't like the way Seto had said that. "You will be my husband and you will not be in love with anyone else. Do you understand that?"</p><p>"I can love whoever I want," Joey defiantly defended, if not a bit breathless. Seto's blue eyes flashed silver and slid into narrowed slits. "It shouldn't even matter anyway. I can't be with him." Joey enforced the last word with an attempt to move Seto off of him. But Seto grabbed his hands and held them on either side of his face against the wall.</p><p>"You're not allowed to love anyone else, Wheeler, get it through your thick dumbhead," Seto growled and Joey almost spat at him but somehow he found the strength not to. He hated how forceful this man was.</p><p>"I don't understand what the big deal is asshole! I'm never gonna love you so why does it matter?"</p><p>Seto faltered and Joey saw that his eyes changed but he didn't understand what it had changed to. Maybe… confusion? "I… I'll never love you either," Seto stated firmly, before releasing his hold and moving away from Joey.</p><p>The blond straightened himself out and stared at Seto oddly. What was…</p><p>"Seto! Are you coming? The cooks made your favorites!" Mokuba's cheerful voice broke the tension between the two boys.</p><p>Joey said nothing and pushed past Seto swiftly, getting away from him as fast as he could. Seto closed his eyes and breathed through his nose, trying to compose himself before turning around to face his younger brother.</p><p>Mokuba took in the sight of his brother's attempted controlled face and immediately knew something was wrong. "Are you okay?" he asked with worry and Seto took a deep breath.</p><p>"I'm fine Mokuba. Tell me," Seto said as he stepped to his younger brother. "Why were you in the garden the whole time and why did you lie to Yami?"</p><p>Mokuba's stormy gray eyes changed and he looked away, telling Seto without speaking that there was something else going on. "I… I was hiding from Kisara. She shouldn't be here, Seto. She's trying to ruin what you have with Joey!" he said emotionally, looking back up at his brother.</p><p>Seto frowned down at his brother. Of course, he knew that Kisara wanted to be with him instead of him being with Joey but that didn't make sense as to why Mokuba felt like he needed to hide from her. "But why did you hide?"</p><p>"B-because! Because she told me that she'd get rid of me if I tried to stop her!" Mokuba blurted, his eyes filling with tears and Seto froze at the declaration.</p><p>Kisara was devious but she wasn't that devious. He knew her from a young age, had grown up with her. She would never do anything to Mokuba. If she wanted to be with him then she should be smart enough to not mess with what was his and who he cared for.</p><p>"Mokuba, I'm sure she was just overreacting," Seto denied and Mokuba stared up at his brother with wide eyes.</p><p>"You… don't believe me?" he choked out, not understanding. Seto wasn't even able to say anything more before Mokuba rushed up the stairs in tears.</p><p>Seto pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. For someone who was supposed to get his way with everything, everything sure wasn't going his way lately.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joey hated Kisara; and that was saying something because he had thought at one point the only person he hated was Seto Kaiba. He wasn't sure when it had changed but he knew that he didn't loathe the man as much as he had in the past. The fact that they had come to some sort of agreement (both of them making it clear that they would never love each other) seemed to have dimmed the hatred down to mutual tolerance of each other. Kind of.</p><p>They could be in the same room without glowering at each other if that gave anyone any indication.</p><p>However, it still seemed to be difficult because Kisara was always there. Why hadn't she left already? And the way Seto accepted her like it was nothing was… well infuriating. He had tried to ask the man multiple times in the next few days but Seto always had the same impassive answer.</p><p>"She's a friend."</p><p>Well if she was a friend, then why was she hanging off of you like some kind of koala bear? Was Joey's immediate thought upon hear this. It really shouldn't have mattered to Joey that Seto was allowing some female friend to behave intimately around him, but the fact still stood that Joey wasn't allowed to be in love with Duke and yet Seto could do anything he wanted. He was pretty close to confronting the King of Pious about it but something kept holding him back. What if Seto was speaking the truth? What if… they were just friends and any assumption of them being more than that would make Joey humiliated?</p><p>It was frustrating for Joey, to say the least.</p><p>On a much happier and friendlier note, Yugi seemed to be fitting in well in the palace. Joey could admit that he was overly relieved that he was no longer alone in this situation. Mokuba had taken a liking to Yugi straight away as well, making it easy to relax and play a fair amount of games that they all enjoyed immensely. It was times like those that Joey was away from the irritation that being around Kisara and Seto inflicted upon him. (And he was without a doubt positive that Kisara did that on purpose.)</p><p>Also, Seto's guards: Bakura and Yami seemed to be hanging around more often. They were allowed to do so now that things were a bit different between Seto and himself. Yami was nice enough, the few times he'd been near him, but he unquestionably didn't appreciate the full out staring contests he had with his smaller friend Yugi. Joey had a suspicion that Yami was thinking inappropriate things about the newcomer and Joey would be keeping an eye on him at all times. No one would be taking advantage of his best friend. And that meant no one.</p><p>Bakura on the other hand sort of gave Joey a bad impression. He was strange if that could even be the right word to describe him, to say the least. He was tall, bulky, and full of muscle and the large scar running down his tanned face was disturbing to Joey. His snarky, and bizarre sense of humor was a bit off-balance too. There was no mistaking the fact that he was friends with the King. Joey was sure that they hit it off swimmingly when they had the chance. Both seemed to take joy in the other's sufferings.</p><p>The bastards.</p><p>"Hey, Joey? Can I come in?"</p><p>A small voice from his doorway broke his thoughts and he sat upon his bed to look at Mokuba's hopeful face peering around the door. A smile lit up Joey's features in response. "Sure thing, bud."</p><p>Mokuba looked relieved and happily came into the room, closing the door behind him, before jumping onto the bed in front of Joey. The blond made some room for him, as his long legs did take up a lot of space. Mokuba didn't say anything immediately and Joey looked up at him to see an uneasy expression on the boy's face. His eyebrows furrowed and his stormy gray eyes were downcast on the distressed covers on Joey's bed.</p><p>"What's up Mokuba?" Joey asked casually, trying to lighten up the boy's obvious sour mood. "Yugi beat you at that Duel Monsters game again?"</p><p>"It's Kisara," Mokuba muttered quietly, breaking the lighthearted joke that Joey had attempted with. The smile fell from Joey's face immediately and he looked at the younger Kaiba seriously.</p><p>"What about her?" he asked, trying not to look too suspicious when it came to talking about that wench.</p><p>Mokuba exhaled abated breath but didn't look up at Joey, making the blond frown even more. "Haven't you noticed her behavior?"</p><p>Joey stared at the boy. Of course, he'd noticed! Who hadn't? "I… don't know what you mean, Mokuba," the blond feigned innocence instead to see what he had to say. Maybe there was something else going on that Joey hadn't seen?</p><p>Mokuba groaned with frustration, taking Joey slightly off guard at the troubling outburst. "She's trying to ruin everything!" he said through gritted teeth and grabbed his long messy hair before looking up at Joey with almost teary eyes. "She is only here to make you go away so she can have Seto to herself! S-she wants our country!"</p><p>Joey froze at the kid's words, his eyes sliding off the boy's face to stare at the wall behind him as he mulled over it. So Kisara was doing it on purpose. He'd had an inkling, but he hadn't wanted to make too many assumptions in case it made things worse for himself. However now that Mokuba knew and understood, maybe it could work to his favor?</p><p>"Did you tell your brother this?" Joey asked Mokuba, his eyes snapping back to Mokuba's upset face as he nodded and tore his eyes off of the blond as he then turned angry.</p><p>"Yes," Mokuba snapped, which was weird to Joey because he didn't think he'd heard Mokuba sound so mad before. He was usually happy and free-spirited. "Seto didn't believe me. H-he doesn't think she'd go to drastic measures to see to it that her plan succeeds."</p><p>Joey's frown deepened even further at that. "What kind of drastic measures are we talking about Mokuba?" A part of him didn't want to know, however.</p><p>Mokuba visibly swallowed and he wiped at his nose before huffing. "She threatened to get rid of me if I tried to stop her and I tried telling Seto that but he didn't think she'd do it. He's – I don't know! He's believing her over me!"</p><p>Joey wanted to think that Kisara wouldn't do that, not if she was trying to make Seto leave Joey for her. But the fact remained that Kisara did seem the type to become crazy at any given moment and if someone, no matter if it was Mokuba or not, tried to sabotage her plans it wouldn't end well for them. But that was just going on the impression she gave to him.</p><p>"She's not going to do anything to you Mokuba, I'll make sure of that," Joey stated, his voice suddenly turning fierce. "I need you to explain something though. How good of friends are Kisara and Seto?"</p><p>Once again, Joey wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer but if curiosity killed the cat then that'd be one deceased feline.</p><p>Mokuba took a breath to calm himself down from his almost breakdown, and crossed his legs in front of him, placing his hands on his knees. His gray eyes met Joey's. "Well… our step-father and her father were close. Both had the same ideas for power and whatever. Kisara and Seto were both the eldest and heirs to the throne, not to mention the same age. Both were smart and quick thinkers. Our fathers boasted about them all the time, it was annoying. I could tell that Seto got annoyed with it too but he didn't say anything. They were pushed on each other and were forced to spend a lot of time together. I was never allowed to be around them when Kisara came over so I don't know what went on.</p><p>All I know is that when they got older, they became pretty close. Kisara touched Seto in ways that I'd never seen him let someone do before. At first, I thought it was because he was trying to put on an act around our step-father, but after a while, I realized that it was because he wanted to allow it. They'd dance with each other at balls and everyone would practically drool over them. I even came to wonder if it was because they liked each other. But every time I'd bring it up, Seto would tell me that it wasn't like that. And I believed him. To a degree. It wasn't until last Christmas that I saw Kisara for who she was…" Mokuba let out a breath and looked down at his hands on his knees.</p><p>Joey sat still, waiting for him to continue. The irritating feeling that always geared its ugly head whenever Kisara was around or mentioned was just about to its boiling point. It was sickening to hear that Seto could like this foul creature that prided herself on pretty hair and shiny eyes.</p><p>"There were a couple of rowdy boys there that wouldn't stop bugging me and so I tried to get away from them by standing by our step-father, but he didn't want me around. Just sneered down at me and told me to go fetch him a glass of wine. So I went to find Seto. He always made me feel better and would tell anyone who bullied me to go away. At first, I couldn't find him, but then I saw Kisara leading him up the stairs. I called after them but Kisara wouldn't let Seto turn around. She kept whispering things into his ear and he ended up following her. I ran after them, but Kisara ended up kicking me with her heel behind Seto's back and I fell down the stairs. When I looked up to see if Seto had seen, she had already disappeared with him on the second floor. It was horrible…"</p><p>The sad and disappointed look on Mokuba's face had Joey wanting to kick Seto and Kisara down the stairs. Maybe twice. Joey licked his suddenly dry lips and grabbed Mokuba's arm to try to comfort him. The boy seemed to relax a little at the touch which the blond was grateful for. "Did you try telling Seto after Kisara had left?"</p><p>Mokuba shook his head as he sniffed, again trying to keep himself from crying. It was obvious what Seto meant to the boy. If their father didn't want anything to do with Mokuba, then Seto would have been the only person that cared about him. It must have been hard to see the only person who was supposed to care for you disappoint you like that.</p><p>"I was going to but he ended up getting busy with King stuff so I didn't see him much… then, our step-father died. By that time, it just didn't seem right to say anything. So I tried to forget about it. But then she shows back up again," Mokuba bit off the last word as if it was a dirty taste. Mokuba suddenly grabbed Joey's hands that were on his arms, piercing Joey with his eyes that now resembled his brothers' – despite the color difference – and the blond widened his eyes a little. "We have to get her out of here Joey!"</p><p>Joey's lips parted in surprise and gulped before shrugging slightly, still in Mokuba's hold. "I don't know what I can do Mokuba! You're brother and I aren't exactly buddies."</p><p>Mokuba groaned with frustration, releasing Joey and standing up to pace. Joey just observed the boy silently, never seeing him behave this way in the time that he'd known him. "I know that! I'm no fool, Joey. I can tell you aren't in love with each other. I just thought that because you two are going to be getting married that maybe you'd be able to have a bit of leeway with Seto! You mean more to him than just a rival if he went back to Ghaffar to bring you back here. Despite Kisara's intentions he still seems to be wanting to marry you with his original plans! You could, I don't know, romance him a little or something! Get him to kick her out instead of the other way around. Because if you continue to act as you hate him, he's not going to stick to his plans for too long. He might be stubborn but he's not patient by all means."</p><p>Understatement, Joey thought grimly but stared at Mokuba with a bit of horror. What the boy was asking him to do was something that the blond would never do, or ever want to do. To woo Seto would be against everything he'd built around the guy: his hatred, resentment, and anything else that made him angry! He'd have to push that aside to proceed with Mokuba's plan. He'd have to… pretend to like the guy. He almost shuddered at the thought but stifled it.</p><p>Nonetheless, Mokuba had a point. If Kisara continued to snag her claws into Seto further, Joey would be thrown out soon – along with his bad attitude. And even though that didn't seem like too bad of an idea to let happen (because god knows that he didn't want to marry the guy), he didn't want Mokuba to have to live with that poor excuse of a woman. Anyone who would kick a child down a large flight of stairs to do whatever (repulsing) things to his brother, had to be more than just a little evil. And to threaten to get rid of him?</p><p>It was enough to make Joey snap out of his revulsions of the idea and get angry enough to be willing. "You're right Mokuba. I have to make sure that he doesn't choose Kisara," Joey declared, straightening his shoulders out, even though he didn't feel comfortable with what the plan would entail.</p><p>Mokuba stopped pacing and gave Joey the brightest grin he'd ever seen on the boy. Suddenly, his short arms were around Joey's waist and the blond was momentarily taken off guard. "Thank you so much, Joey," Mokuba mumbled into Joey's tee-shirt. "You're going to be a great big brother."</p><p>Joey's heart melted at that confession and he patted the boy's back affectionately, suddenly missing Serenity more than he had in a while. He needed to remember to make a call to her and tell her that he loved her and thought about her. She probably was upset that he was gone again. In the meantime, he had an obligation to the boy hugging him. And he needed to avenge the bullying that this princess had inflicted on him. He just hoped that this plan worked.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Seto sat in his sitting room, his blue eyes darting towards the doorway in paranoia. It seemed in the past few days that he'd returned to his home that Kisara had decided to be attached to his hip. It was annoying and he was proud of himself that he hadn't lost his temper with her. He secretly wished that she'd find her way to the door without him kicking her out, but that didn't seem to be happening any time soon. Thankfully, this was a moment of peace – to a certain extent – without her there breathing down his neck.</p><p>At least she wasn't degrading Joey anymore. He'd promptly demanded of her to stop bringing the blond up in his presence. His decision would not be changing and no amount of insults was going to alter that. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes as he rested the back of his head against the head of his chair. Silence. It was something that he hadn't been able to relax in quite some time. With Kisara doing whatever the hell she was doing, his King duties, KC work, and of course the number of people staying and appearing in his palace from time to time, it was burdening him to endure it. He'd be grateful when they all would decide to leave him alone.</p><p>The only reason he was even putting up with Kisara at this point, was that he wanted to make sure she wasn't up to anything suspicious. She had been very passionate about her views over his engagement and despite what he'd told Mokuba, he was still quite wary of her. Of course, he still held that he was certain she wouldn't harm his younger brother. She'd have to be more stupid than he'd originally thought if she ultimately did. No, it didn't seem right. Kisara was cunning and clever enough to attempt to get her way without drastically hurting someone. Too bad he was even more clever and cunning.</p><p>He was Seto Kaiba, after all.</p><p>Joey seemed to be calming down more so than he'd been anticipating, too. He assumed it was because of his friend Yugi being there, as his attentions were now elsewhere and didn't have to be so focused on making Seto infuriated with him. However, Seto realized that this didn't please him as much as he'd thought it would a few weeks back. It irritated him greatly.</p><p>Joey didn't glare at him all the time, that bright red flush that appeared on his cheeks when angry seemed to have been forgotten as well, and Joey gave off the impression that he was attempting to control himself around Seto instead of antagonizing him. Which in all honesty, Seto did appreciate because it could get pretty tiresome but the constant bickering amongst them did amuse him and kept him stimulated to a point. He'd even tried to annoy the blond with snide remarks and had only been met with a shrug or a casual answer that had him seething in his seat.</p><p>It wasn't until yesterday that he realized just how to get Joey angry again. It was no longer Seto that irritated the blond. No, it was Kisara. Something inside of Seto was pleased with that revelation. Every time the girl would latch herself to him, Joey balled up his fists and stomped from the room abruptly. It was simply gratifying after the impassiveness that the blond had been towards Seto before. So he supposed that was another reason why he was keeping Kisara around, he mused with hilarity.</p><p>"Sleeping on the job, your majesty?"</p><p>Seto almost groaned aloud at the maniacal voice of Bakura. If it wasn't Kisara, it was Yami. If it wasn't Yami, it was Bakura. No one could leave him alone these days. He was almost missing the days that Joey had emphasized to sabotage their engagement. At least then he hadn't been barged in on when he was trying to sink into his thoughts. Joey hadn't wanted to be around him unless he had to. So yes, he missed that quite a lot.</p><p>"Fuck off Bakura," Seto immediately let slip while opening his eyes to see the wicked amusement flash over the white-haired guard's face.</p><p>"Someone's in a bad mood. Not getting laid?" Bakura taunted as he sat down across from the King with a smirk. "I'd of thought that it wouldn't be an issue with your fiancé running around now and that dreadful princess here too. I mean, wow man, you're living the life."</p><p>Sadly, Seto didn't see the enjoyment of the situation. "Don't you have someone else to annoy? Like that small guard in the barn out back?" he retorted and watched with satisfied pleasure at the dropping of the smirk entirely on Bakura's face.</p><p>"I don't know what you're talking about," Bakura denied stubbornly with a growl-like response, his arms crossing over his broad chest while his light eyes slid to the window to their side.</p><p>Seto quirked an eyebrow while crossing his legs gracefully. "Funny, I'd say that was a lie since Yami informed me a couple of days ago that he was worried you were getting too attached to Princess Kisara's guard," he replied sarcastically with a wide smirk.</p><p>A real growl erupted from the gruff guard and he flashed a glare at Seto. "Yami doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut and his nose out of others' business," he snarled, which only intensified Seto's leer more.</p><p>"It doesn't matter, Bakura," Seto suddenly said before sighing. "I just take pleasure in seeing you angry." Bakura glowered at the King. "Besides, I've seen him around. He's the most pathetic excuse of a guard in history and that's saying something, as I've seen pretty shitty guards." Including and specifically, that black-haired, green-eyed snake that Joey had been kissing.</p><p>Bakura leaned back into the chair he was seated in, relaxing into it when he didn't feel threatened anymore. "I agree," he said thoughtfully, before shrugging. "I'd say that he isn't a guard at all."</p><p>Seto eyed his guard and friend curiously. "What makes you say that?"</p><p>Bakura shrugged again. "He's weak and" –</p><p>Bakura's explanation was abruptly cut off when the sight of a certain blond-haired boy appeared in the room looking nothing like he had at breakfast. At Bakura's sudden drop of his sentence and the way he was staring away from him with a slight gape, had Seto turning in his seat to see what was wrong.</p><p>It was then that Seto's heart immediately sped up, his stomach did a weird flop, and his throat became dry as if he hadn't had a drink in days. It was needless to say that Seto had never had this reaction before, to anyone (And he'd never admitted it) and so the fact that he was gawking at Prince Wheeler was enough to raise suspicion in how Joey affected him.</p><p>Joey stood there, feeling quite uncomfortable in a white button shirt that was sloppily buttoned, exposing the lower part of his toned abdomen, and light blue boxers. His hair was tousled and his brown eyes were staring back at Seto intently as if gauging for a reaction. Seto's eyes slid down the boy's frame slowly, recognizing the clothing to be his own. The fact that Joey was wearing his clothing made the possessive side of Seto practically growl with pleasure. The sane side of Seto was wondering why the hell he was wearing them and what gave him the right.</p><p>When Seto's eyes returned to Joey's face, he saw the bright blush on his cheeks and his eyes adverting to the wall behind the brunette. A small barely notable smirk flitted over Seto's face before composing himself.</p><p>Bakura's sudden howl of laughter broke the spell and Joey immediately glared directly at the white-haired man with disdain. Seto too scowled in his guard's direction before addressing the barely dressed boy.</p><p>"What are you doing in my clothing, Wheeler?" Seto asked with distaste lingering on his words and ignoring Bakura's insistent snickers. Joey's glare snapped to him, the first glare he'd received in days before it disappeared almost instantly.</p><p>"I… don't have much clothing of my own and I needed to take a shower. All the clothes I do have are dirty. Thought you wouldn't mind, ya know, 'cause we'll be getting married and all that," Joey explained uncomfortably as his eyes locked onto Seto's penetrating ones. "My water's freezin' though in my bathroom, it won't warm up. Can ya help me?"</p><p>Seto suddenly stared at Joey like he was the most ridiculous person in the world, and it could have been the truth at that moment. Bakura's sniggers in the background didn't help. Was Joey being serious?</p><p>"Why didn't you ask Rolland or some other person to a) wash your clothes for you and b) fix the water? I'm the King, Wheeler. I don't do maintenance work," he replied snidely and Joey sighed, almost exasperatedly making Seto's eyebrow quirk upwards.</p><p>"I thought you'd say that, but Rolland's out with Mokuba and the repair guys are all out back fixin' the leak on the swimming pool. So… I need your help. It's your palace, isn't it?" Joey asked in the most innocent-sounding voice Seto had ever heard come out of his mouth.</p><p>Frowning, Seto crossed his arms. "And where did Mokuba have Rolland take him?"</p><p>Joey smiled as if thinking about the small boy. "I believe he said he was going to Kaiba Land since he's been workin' so hard on his school work. Yugi wanted to go with him since he's never been."</p><p>Seto sighed with annoyance but couldn't take his eyes off of the blond in front of him. His eyes seemed to have a mind of their own as they slid back down the boy's body to his tanned slightly hairy legs that were exposed to him from below his boxers. His jaw absently clenched up when he saw a slight prominence between the blond's legs under the blue cotton cloth. Oh god, what the hell was wrong with him.</p><p>"I… Bakura?" Seto managed out, looking at his guard in question. What were guards for anyways? Guard me against the unwanted reactions I'm getting from seeing him this way.</p><p>Bakura laughed darkly before standing up. "Oh no, your majesty. You're on your own with this one. I fight people, I don't fix showers." Before Seto could command to do it anyways, Bakura had scurried out of the room past Joey.</p><p>His eyes returned to the blond's hopeful smile and he narrowed his eyes at it suspiciously. He didn't trust Joey at all, not after the way he's been acting towards him. But what else could he do?</p><p>Sighing with irritation, he stood up from his chair and glowered at the blond. "Fine. It's not like I'm allowed to have peace and quiet anyway," he muttered grumpily but Joey was already grinning.</p><p>"Thanks! I owe you one!" Joey said a bit too cheerfully, before leading him out of the sitting room towards the large staircase. Seto's eyes trained on the boy's back silently but soon lowered down to Joey's behind.</p><p>
  <em>I'm not gay.</em>
</p><p>When they reached Joey's bathroom, Seto wanted to throw himself out the window because he'd agreed to do this. He of course knew how to repair a shower, as he'd read too many books to count because of his love of knowledge, but that didn't mean that menial jobs like this were something that he preferred. Without looking behind him where he knew Joey stood watching, he took off his coat and sat it on the closed toilet seat before pushing up the sleeves of a white shirt that mirrored the one Joey had on. (Although his was neatly buttoned and pressed.)</p><p>Holding back another sigh, Seto turned the hot water on and waited the amount of time that he assumed would be enough for it to have warmed itself up. He slid his hand under the water to test it to find it indeed, cold. Frowning, because he now believed Joey's heinous story, Seto turned the water off.</p><p>"The water heater's probably lowered or something, I'll have to get one of the workers to fix it whenever they get back from maintaining the pool leak," Seto explained before standing back up and looking over at Joey, but he immediately regretted it.</p><p>The blond had taken off his shirt? Why? And why did his chest look so damn muscular and golden? There was even a slight bit of blond chest hair across his pectorals. Seto had to swallow the large lump in his throat that was forming.</p><p>
  <em>I'm not gay.</em>
</p><p>"Okay, sounds good. Guess I'll just wait then," Joey said with a nod, leaning up against the doorframe with his arms crossing over his broad-shouldered chest, his lips curving upwards into an appreciative smile.</p><p>"O-okay," Seto managed to say, without really hearing his words over the echoing mantra he was reprimanding himself with.</p><p>
  <em>I'm not gay. I'm not gay. Stop looking at his chest. I'm not gay.</em>
</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Joey's heart was beating radically fast in his chest, despite the cool exterior he was allowing Seto to see. He couldn't believe that this had worked so quickly. Seto's reaction to him being in his clothes had been amusing, but now that he had taken off the shirt to see how he'd respond, well it was surprising and a little exhilarating. The piercing blue eyes of steel that had always either angered him or intimidated him were sliding over his body and sending warm tingles down his body. It was enough to make his mouth go dry.</p><p>It was beginning to feel awkward though and Joey shifted under the brunette's gaze. "Okay, uh thanks anyways," Joey said before offering another quick smile and pushing himself off of the doorframe to wander back into his bedroom, leaving Seto back in the bathroom. Throwing himself onto his bed, he let himself exhale a breath of relief and his wide brown eyes stared up at the ceiling.</p><p>What the hell was the matter with him? For this, to work he was going to need to keep himself in check, for Mokuba's sake. And of course, the fact that his father's pressure of their countries uniting did go hand in hand with his obligation. It would disappoint a whole lot of people if this didn't succeed.</p><p>Finally, Seto emerged from his bathroom, and Joey turned his head to the side to see the brunette looking a bit more under control than he had a few moments prior. Seto avoided looking at Joey all together and strode through the room swiftly and was out of sight in a heartbeat. Joey then heard a slam of the door next to his own, meaning he'd gone into his bedroom. It was then that Joey let out a fit of laughter. He wasn't sure what he was laughing at, but he was certain it had to do with the relief he felt that it had worked.</p><p>After his laughs subsided, Joey stood off the bed with a grin and made sure his door was closed before grabbing the phone on his nightstand. Punching in numbers, his grin widened at Rolland's answer.</p><p>"You can tell Mokuba that "Plan One" has succeeded!" Joey declared happily, as he was still in disbelief with it all.</p><p>"Right I will, Prince Wheeler," Rolland replied, equally as happy as Mokuba and Joey had informed him and Yugi of their plans to kick Kisara out. Rolland despised the girl just as much as they did. "And I'll have the maintenance workers turn up the water heater back up to its normal temperature. Job well done, your highness."</p><p>Joey beamed at the praise before hanging up the phone to walk back into his bathroom to take a warm shower, or perhaps a cold one would suffice after what he'd just been through. He paused as he took Seto's boxers off, spotting the King's coat still lying on his toilet seat. Seto must have been so taken off guard that he had forgotten to collect it.</p><p>He then came up with a brilliant idea. A wicked grin spread over Joey's face before tearing the boxers off and hopping into the shower. The hot water was up and running again and Joey melted with plans swarming in his head. Perhaps romancing Seto wouldn't be as difficult as he had once thought. Scheming seemed to come very naturally to Joey and by the brunette's reaction enough… well, Joey knew what he had to do.</p><p>"Plan Two" would soon be in effect.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>When dinner came around, the three who had ventured off to Kaiba Land had returned and were seated around the table – except Rolland of course – along with Kisara and Seto. Since Joey's return, Kisara had been made to sit elsewhere as the chair she'd previously occupied had been deemed Joey's. Seto was still sticking to that, as Joey was ultimately his fiancé and soon would be his fellow King once they were married. It seemed fitting that Joey would be seated alongside him, with his younger brother on his other side.</p><p>And speaking of his brother, Seto wasn't sure if it was because he'd enjoyed himself with Yugi and Rolland at Kaiba Land or if it was because something else had made him incessantly happy, but Mokuba's behavior could be considered cheerful compared to how he'd been acting ever since Seto had told Mokuba he didn't believe that Kisara would harm him. Seto had felt guilty that he'd upset his brother so badly, but the brunette wasn't going to lie to him so he felt better about the situation. So Seto was thankful for whatever had lightened his mood, whatever it was.</p><p>Despite that, Seto was still quite unnerved by how he had been reacting towards Joey that afternoon. After a cold shower, that surprisingly had heated all on its own a few seconds after he had stepped in, he still felt disturbed by it all. He should not, under any circumstances have that sort of reaction to Joey, let alone a male. He was heterosexual and he'd been that way his whole life.</p><p>Eyes straying to Kisara who was looking extra beautiful that night had him reminding himself that he was not gay. He had rather enjoyed playing with her breasts and teasing her mercilessly in the past, so he was not gay.</p><p>And with that thought (despite not thinking of the fact that he shouldn't have had to remind himself that he was heterosexual), Seto felt a little bit better about the situation. That was… until Joey arrived in the dining room.</p><p>He walked behind Seto's chair to get to his seat, sending cool air of Joey's clean fresh scent (he finally managed to take a shower, apparently) in through the brunette's nostrils which he absently inhaled. However, it wasn't his smell or even the way his hair was still a bit damp around his face. No, it was what he was wearing.</p><p>Seto just then realized while Joey wore it, he'd left his coat in Joey's bathroom – although he had been without it for a couple of hours. Glancing down at himself, to make himself believe it, he held back a groan when he saw that he was only wearing a white button-down. He must have been too distracted to have noticed. But now he noticed.</p><p>And what made it worse was that Joey was acting so casual about it. Like it was an everyday sort of thing that Joey wore Seto's clothing. He a small little content smile on his face and his warm brown eyes roamed over the platters of food hungrily. He was unaware of everyone at the table's eyes on him. Seto's especially.</p><p>Blue eyes narrowing, Seto chanced a glance up at Kisara for her reaction and she was quite literally gawking at Joey like he was some sort of live Duel Monster. Well… if that was supposed to get her to leave, then it could just work. Her pretty face then transformed into a green monster and glowered at the poor oblivious blond.</p><p>Seto stifled a smirk and looked back at Joey who was stuffing his face with chicken. Momentarily repulsed by the boy's constant hunger, Seto cleared his throat to alleviate the tense atmosphere in the room. "If you're going to wear my clothes, you could at least make sure to not make stains on them," he stated, hiding his true reaction under his normal snide threats.</p><p>Joey finally rose his head, his eyes wide with an innocence that Seto didn't believe to be real. Not in a long shot. "Promise," Joey said over his mouthful of food before attempting to give him a reassuring grin, to which Seto scowled with disgust and looked away.</p><p>"Why is he wearing your clothes, Seto?" Kisara asked, her voice notably wobbly while trying to control her obvious jealousy.</p><p>Seto merely looked up at her before shrugging, pretending to be quite bored with the subject. "He doesn't have a lot of clothing here for him to wear. I suppose I will have Rolland take Mr. Yugi here and Prince Wheeler shopping tomorrow."</p><p>Yugi and Joey exchanged smirks that went unnoticed by Kisara or Seto, but quickly composed themselves before they were caught.</p><p>The white-haired girl seemed to not like the answer she was given and seemed to have completely forgotten her meal in front of her, as her steely blue eyes stared intently at Seto as if trying to force him into locking eyes with her. "So it's temporary," she stated, but it was not a question.</p><p>Seto quite simply ignored her stare and took a sip of his tea before answering, "Obviously."</p><p>Joey stifled a snicker that ended up sounding a lot like a snort, which he then proceeded to work off as a cough. Seto's eyes slid over to Joey curiously and the blond's face lit up with the heat. That seemed to infuriate Kisara further, making Yugi who had been blessed to sit by her uneasy and he shifted his chair away from her slightly.</p><p>Mokuba just grabbed his cup of hot chocolate and hid his grin from behind it. Things were working out splendidly.</p><p>As Seto went back to eating his meal, the rest of the table began to do so as well. All was quiet for a very long moment until Joey accidentally dropped his fork. "Oops," he muttered quietly to himself, before sliding out of his chair onto the floor.</p><p>"Wheeler! Get back up here!" Seto bellowed, outraged that a man of royalty would just so bluntly retrieve a fork that had fallen onto the floor. "Let someone else get it!"</p><p>"Don't worry – Ouch!" Joey tried to reassure before banging his head on the underside of the table. Mokuba snorted around a biscuit, making his brother snap his eyes over to him, which sobered Mokuba up quickly. "I… think – I… nope! Hang on… it's so dark under there, I can't see anything," was all they heard from their seats.</p><p>Seto tried to control the ridicule that threatened to leave his mouth at Joey's behavior. Roaming around on the floor in his coat trying to find a fork was just outrageous. And he thought that up until a hand grabbed his ankle, which he impeccably froze at. His heart even stilled in its beating, he swore. Thankfully he had full control over his face as he didn't want to attract attention to himself, especially with Kisara's tense eyes on him.</p><p>Then the hand began to move. Upwards.</p><p>It nearly sent him into a premature heart attack. Instinct was to kick him off and scold him for being so foolish. But he did no such thing. No, instead he sat there, feeling the warm hand on him move up his pant clothed leg towards his knee.</p><p>Immediately, his chant began again in his head. I'm not gay.</p><p>As he thought this, heat engulfed his cheeks and he tried to shift his head a little make his hair fall into his face to conceal it. Did Kisara have to stare at him as if he was going to explode at any moment? I might, an involuntary thought invaded his mind sending him into a fit of "I'm not gay's". As the hand continued to slide over his knee and then back down his leg, his heart began to beat again with more life than it had been before it had stopped. What the hell Wheeler?</p><p>Suddenly, the hand disappeared off of his leg and he found himself stunned that Joey had just abruptly stopped without so much as a climax. The blond popped back up into his seat, his hair was messier than Seto had ever seen it, and a blush high on his cheeks. The brown orbs didn't even glance at him and Seto found that annoying. So you can toy with me but you won't confront me afterward? He thought with irritation.</p><p>Joey instead caught Yugi's eyes and gave him a flash of a grin. "Found it," he said proudly, holding his fork up in triumph.</p><p>It was needless to say Seto was stunned silent and Kisara was in a foul mood for the rest of the evening. Joey was confused and Mokuba was the happiest he'd been in days.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Ryou ran a hand through his long white hair, wishing he'd brought a hair tie to hold it away from his face. It could get pretty sweaty in the barn, especially because it was autumn and the summer heat seemed to have lingered longer than it should have. It wasn't mandatory to stay in there while Princess Kisara was up in the palace with King Seto. No, Ryou just hated being around the other guards that were temporarily living with Pious' royal guard in the nice building of their own off to the side of the palace. It wasn't that they were necessarily terrible company, it was just he wanted to stay away from him.</p><p>Bakura is what he had called himself. Although Ryou had practically locked himself up in the barn without telling anyone where he had been going, Bakura had seemed to know exactly where he'd been. Ryou was perturbed by that. The man had no life and instead had made his mission to stalk and harass him at any given moment.</p><p>At least I don't have to sleep around him, was all that made Ryou relieved. For some reason, the man-caused Ryou to feel uncomfortable and it had little to do with how big and muscular he was. Although it had partly do with it. He knew of his small stature, so it wasn't brain science that Ryou would feel intimidated by Bakura. Besides that, however, Bakura had this aura around him that screamed coercion. His growl like voice, the look in his eyes when he looked at Ryou, and the fact that he just wouldn't leave him alone and took pleasure in making Ryou uncomfortable were enough to send the smaller boy wanting to return home as quickly as possible.</p><p>Bakura made his heartbeat too quickly and had his palms sweating before the heat even touched him. No one had ever made him feel that way.</p><p>It was terrifying.</p><p>Thankfully though, it was night and Bakura usually showed up during daylight hours. Ryou liked to think it was because he wasn't allowed out of his building past a certain time and so it gave the boy freedom to do what he wanted without worrying about Bakura pestering him. Like play with his hamster or spend time with the nice animals in the barn. However, that night, Ryou wasn't doing either.</p><p>Instead, he was lying in a pile of hay staring up at the skylight built on the ceiling of the barn. The sky was beautifully clear and he could see the stars. With a hand over his stomach, he absently named off the constellations. Orion, Sirius… Leo…</p><p>Crunch.</p><p>Ryou froze in fright at the sound, his head darting to the side as his eyes wandered over the barn in search of the cause. Seeing a horse shift in its stall had Ryou relaxing. Perhaps it was the horse.</p><p>Oh right, there's the big dipper, he mused but then was suddenly cut off by a shadow looming over him.</p><p>Ryou just about screamed at the sight of Bakura standing over him, an extensive wicked grin over his face. "Hello lovely," he stated and Ryou was up in a second, rushing towards a stall to get away from him. A dark chuckle from behind him followed by hasty footfalls had him realizing that he was being followed. What was that man doing here?</p><p>Slamming a stall shut, he locked it quickly and pressed himself up against the back wall, eyes wide and petrified. Bakura was tall though and he easily looked over the stall door to peer in at him. The obscure smirk on his face sent involuntary shivers down Ryou's spine.</p><p>"What d-do you want with m-me?" Ryou asked as he panicked and Bakura's smirk widened.</p><p>"I can't say hi to you then?" Bakura replied, offhandedly looking disappointed and Ryou wondered if maybe he had hurt his feelings. The flash in his eyes told him differently and Ryou narrowed his chocolate ones.</p><p>"Not if you're just here to harass me!" Ryou shouted, surprised at his angry retort. How could he go from being scared out of his wits by the man to being so incredibly angry at him that he just spouts offensive words at him? Ryou had never met someone to cause him to be so unstable before.</p><p>Bakura reached over the top of the stall door, unhitching it effortlessly and Ryou's heart jumped to his throat. "You're so sexy when you're angry," Bakura drawled as he opened the door and stepped inside.</p><p>Ryou blushed profusely at Bakura's choice of words and his fingertips painfully clutched to the wall as if it was a life source. "S-stay away from me!" Ryou pathetically warned and Bakura laughed while walking the few short steps towards him. "I m-mean it!"</p><p>The threat went dead on his lips and Ryou was suddenly aware of Bakura's proximity to him. His lips were so close to his own and his violet eyes captivated him almost immediately. Another shudder ran over him and Bakura's lips parted into a smirk before he pressed himself flesh against Ryou's smaller body. Ryou had to lift his head quite far to keep eye contact but Bakura didn't seem to mind.</p><p>It took all of a second before he was hoisted up by those muscular arms and his lips were then underneath Bakura's. A white-hot flash of heat struck through him at the violation and his reaction was unlike any other. Ryou's arms wrapped around Bakura's neck immediately, his thighs circling the larger man's waist, and a moan leaving his mouth. And in response, Bakura growled heatedly into the boy's mouth, his tongue snaking through the parting lips to entangle Ryou's with his own.</p><p>Neither of them had felt this passionate about anything before. They didn't even want to come up for air. One of Bakura's hands gripped Ryou's long hair to hold him to his mouth while he ground himself up against his willing victim. Ryou's fingers untangled themselves to thread into Bakura's hair and the moaning and grunting didn't ever stop. Ryou could even feel the man's want against his own. It was so thrilling.</p><p>When it did, they broke apart because they had to not because they wanted to. Bakura opened his eyes first, looking down at the pale face of Ryou. The boy was panting and there was still a blush slightly on his cheeks. His lips were swollen from the kiss and his hands were still in Bakura's hair. The man hadn't seen anything more arousing in his whole life.</p><p>And because things were going so well for him, it would have been obvious to say that it would all come to an end.</p><p>"<em>Ryou</em>?" A woman's voice spoke into the barn and Ryou's eyes popped open immediately to lock onto Bakura's questioning ones.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The female's voice continued to call out to Ryou and the larger man's suspicions were quickly returning, especially as Ryou regained control over himself and began struggling to make the man let him go.</p><p>Bakura released Ryou to drop onto his feet, the white-haired boy scurrying away from him hastily to exit the stall as if what they had just done hadn't happened. Bakura gritted his teeth tightly at the disturbance, yet followed Ryou. Whoever the hell had barged in here better of had a good enough reason. He had been so close to making Ryou submit to him he had tasted it joyously. The reaction from Ryou had been stunning and had intensified Bakura's need for him. Bakura didn't fully understand it all, but he knew that he had to have this interesting, sexy boy.</p><p>Exiting the stall to enter the main part of the barn, he observed Ryou rush over – to who Bakura assumed was the interrupter – before catching sight of Princess Kisara herself as he made his appearance. Her crystal blue eyes trained from Ryou to Bakura immediately, an almost scared look etching itself onto her face before she composed herself quickly.</p><p>"What are you doing in here?" she asked him, a hint of threat in her voice which Bakura didn't appreciate it. She was, after all, a guest at the palace and despite their separate friendships with the King, Bakura would not feel remorse for showing her out of here. However, that would mean Ryou would be leaving as well and so that was the only reason to stop him. He wasn't quite finished with the boy yet.</p><p>Bakura crossed his arms over his chest as he gave her an obscure look. "I could ask the same, Princess," he stretched her title. "The last time I checked you weren't even close to being a farm animal so there would be no reason for you to be here."</p><p>Kisara's pretty face darkened at his words as her fists clenched at her sides. Bakura couldn't help but smirk at that. "I'm here to speak with my guard for your information," she bit off and grabbed Ryou by the arm, making the boy wince from the force.</p><p>Bakura narrowed his eyes dangerously and took a step towards her. "Guard? Really?" he asked, not believing a word she was saying. "This is who you surround yourself with to protect you?" He darted his eyes from Kisara to Ryou to gesture who he was talking about, causing the boy's face to light up from shame. "He's nothing but a mere child."</p><p>Something flashed in Kisara's eyes and her hold on Ryou visibly tightened, hiking up Bakura's barely controlled anger even more. What the hell was going on here?</p><p>"It's none of your business who I choose as my guards, however, I might have to have a little talk with my dear Seto about who he chooses as his guards. Sneaking around in a barn and harassing your guest's guard? Pathetic really."</p><p>Bakura's stifled growl vibrated through him, his eyes narrowing into slits. Kisara backed away slightly as her eyes widened at Bakura, pulling Ryou with her as he attempted to resist exposing his obvious fear.</p><p>"Let go of him," Bakura yapped at her, his feet continuing to advance on them as tremors of rage spread over him. No one, hurt what he considered his. And Ryou was his now. He didn't care if Ryou was Kisara's guard, she wasn't allowed to touch him.</p><p>Kisara, despite obviously being intimidated by Bakura, tried to mask it and pulled Ryou closer to her as she stepped back towards the doors. She flashed a glare at the man as Ryou's eyes widened even more. "Why are you so worried about what I do with my guard?" she questioned, her voice higher than it normally was. Bakura took that as a sign that she was scared. Good.</p><p>"Because you're hurting him," Bakura simply stated before pouncing.</p><p>Kisara barely had time to widen her eyes before the large frame of Bakura landed on top of her, his elbow knocking into her face and causing her to release Ryou to grab at it in pain. Bakura smirked wildly as he grabbed Ryou around the waist, making him cry out in terror, and threw him over his shoulder. The small boy kicked his legs against Bakura's chest but the larger man only laughed as he got to his feet and began walking out of the barn.</p><p>"LET ME GO!" Ryou wailed as he continued to fight against Bakura's hold on him.</p><p>Bakura laughed again. "That wasn't what you were saying a few minutes ago in the stall, baby," he taunted and he didn't have to look at him to know that Ryou was blushing fiercely, for he faltered in his squirming.</p><p>It was then that Kisara decided to interrupt once more and Bakura wished he had his sword on him. "Let him go guard! He's not yours!" she shouted at him.</p><p>Bakura spun around on the grass, to give her a grin. "That's where you're wrong, your highness. He's more mine than he is your guard," he mocked. "Unless he's not your guard," he added with a wicked quirk of his eyebrow in challenge.</p><p>Kisara's eyes flashed to Ryou for a split moment and Bakura wondered if she was going to continue to fight him on this. Better just give it up now honey, he thought maniacally.</p><p>"What are you going to do with him?" she asked him as her voice softened, her face falling in defeat and her hands clamping together in front of her face.</p><p>Bakura frowned at her, not understanding why she cared so much for a supposed guard that couldn't do anything for her. "What's it to you?" he asked, as he jutted out his jaw while his eyes narrowed in suspicion.</p><p>"B-because," Ryou answered instead into Bakura's ear, making the larger man freeze against his will, his violet eyes trained on Kisara's frightened face. "I'm her b-brother."</p><p>Bakura immediately dropped Ryou onto the ground in shock.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>The next morning, Seto's eyes popped open with paranoia as he woke. He could still feel Joey's warm dream hands all over his body, sending heat and blood through him making him shift in his bed uncomfortably. Swallowing hard he tried to distract his mind from the fact that he was incredibly hard at the moment, his eyes staring hard at the ceiling above him. It was just a dream, Seto. It doesn't mean anything, he tried to reason with himself.</p><p>Then why did he dream about it?</p><p>It had to be because of what had transpired the day before. Joey had suddenly found an interest in wearing his clothes and had thought it amusing to run his hand over his leg under the dinner table. None of it made any sense to him. The last time he had checked Joey hated him. And not to a: "oh you annoy me" kind of way, no. It was a: "I wish you'd die in your sleep" kind of way. And to a point, Seto had felt the same way about him. So why was all of this happening?</p><p>What bothered him the most, was how his body had reacted to what Joey had been doing to him. No one, not even Kisara, had made him paralyzed under their ministrations or just by the mere sight of them half-naked as Joey had been in the bathroom. Just the thought of him like that, leaning up against the doorframe with a casual smile on his face had Seto's heart racing again.</p><p>"Ugh," he groaned, grabbing his hair uncharacteristically and rolling himself over onto his side. His fingers slid down his face while he narrowed his eyes towards his dresser as if it offended him. "I'm not gay," he reminded himself aloud.</p><p>Suddenly, a knock on his door made him halt in his frustrating denial. Just as quickly, the door swung open and Seto peered down the bed from his position to see his younger brother. He silently sighed with relief, before scolding himself inwardly for thinking the person was to be Joey to come to pester him again.</p><p>"Still in bed, big brother?" Mokuba asked curiously, walking over to him and jumping onto the bed. Seto pushed himself up into a sitting position to see the grin on his younger brother's face. Seto didn't trust it.</p><p>"I… didn't sleep well," he answered honestly, running a hand through his hair to try to flatten it out which Mokuba beamed at.</p><p>"Why's that?"</p><p>Seto narrowed his eyes at his brother, dropping his hand into his lap. "Why are you in here?" he asked, refusing to answer Mokuba's prying question. It was like his younger brother knew why he hadn't slept well, and that disturbed him.</p><p>Mokuba shrugged nonchalantly, the smile on his face never wavering. "Rolland is taking Joey and Yugi out shopping and so I don't have anything to do."</p><p>Seto wanted to sigh with relief at the fact that Joey wouldn't be wearing his clothing anymore. That problem was solved. Nonetheless, a feeling of disappointment tried to intervene which he stubbornly pushed aside. "Were you expecting me to do something with you?"</p><p>Mokuba seemed to lighten up even more if that was possible. His eyes were practically sparkling. Seto hadn't seen him this way in such a long time. It lifted his heart slightly at the sight of it. "We could play games like we used to! We haven't played together in like a bazillion years!"</p><p>Seto rolled his eyes at his brother's exaggeration and threw the covers off of himself to get out of the bed. Mokuba was practically bouncing on his bed behind him with anticipation.</p><p>"Come on please?" he pleaded as Seto went through his drawer to find something to wear.</p><p>"I don't have time for games, Mokuba," he stated simply and withdrew his dark blue sleep shirt over his head without looking at his brother. He just knew he'd fall victim to those puppy dog eyes that the young prince was overly well at.</p><p>"Oh Seto please?" the boy cried and Seto sighed as he unfastened the buttons of his once folded white button-up shirt.</p><p>"Mokuba, I sa"—</p><p>"Hey, Mokuba? We're about to leave…" Seto's blood ran hot as the voice trailed off, his blue eyes snapping to the doorway where Joey was standing with his mouth gaping open and his brown eyes wide while staring directly at Seto's bare chest.</p><p>Seto felt a blush rise onto his cheeks and he quickly averted his eyes to throw the shirt on. "Hasn't anyone taught you to knock Wheeler?" Seto asked bitterly, covering up his embarrassment. Why oh why must he torment me like this?</p><p>Joey had to collect his words before speaking because there was a slight pause before he responded. "I was looking for Mokuba." Seto was surprised to hear no malice in his words like he normally would after Seto ridiculed him, even though he shouldn't have been. Something had been off with Joey ever since he'd returned from Ghaffar.</p><p>And Seto wanted to know what. "Well, you could have waited till he left my bedroom. Even though you seem to not care like the animal you are, you're not allowed in my bedroom," he tried to bait.</p><p>He chanced a glance at Joey while buttoning his shirt and was amused to see the blond's hands in fists at his side and his face red from either anger or embarrassment. Either one was satisfying to Seto at the moment. Joey caught Seto's gaze and the brunette smirked at him in a challenge, raising more fire in the depths of those brown eyes.</p><p>"What did you want Joey?" Mokuba intervened before Joey could retort, standing up from the bed. The distraction worked as Joey looked over to the younger boy and softened his hardened exterior.</p><p>"I just wanted to know if you would like to come with us," Joey asked him with an easygoing smile as if Seto's words hadn't truly affected him. And that pissed Seto off.</p><p>Seto glanced at his little brother, catching his gaze that had turned uncertain. "Well… I kind of wanted to hang out with Seto today. But he says he doesn't want to so okay," Mokuba responded before dropping his head with a sad frown, his eyebrows pulling together to draw in effect.</p><p>Joey's smile faltered and he glanced at Seto. "Your brother could come too," he suggested with a shrug. Mokuba's eyes lit up as he raised his head, before rushing over to Seto to grab onto his arm.</p><p>The brunette in question didn't appreciate being pulled into this. "Come on Seto? It'd be fun!" Mokuba went back to pleading, his eyes widening melodramatically.</p><p>"I"—Seto began but was cut off by Joey, irritatingly enough.</p><p>"Come on Kaiba, I'm sure you don't have that many things going on today. Your brother wants ya to spend some time with him," Joey explained with that stupid smile. That stupid, casual, moronic, I'm the most innocent man on the planet, smile that Seto didn't buy for a moment's notice. He had worn it all day yesterday. "Plus," Joey added, grabbing Seto's attention once more as he narrowed his blue eyes at the blond's deceiving curved lips. "The public will see us together actin' like a perfect family. Two birds, one stone."</p><p>If Seto had been suspicious before, he was now so. His eyebrows rose with mock surprise. "And since when does Joey Wheeler wants the public to see us together?" he questioned, letting his doubt run smoothly through his words.</p><p>Joey shrugged with another irritating smile. "Since now. It's for Mokuba's benefit, really," he explained before his eyes slid down Seto's figure slowly, causing more heat to rush through the brunette involuntarily. "Besides, don't you want to make sure I pick out appropriate clothing to wear? Wouldn't want me buyin' anything too lower class with your money, would ya?"</p><p>Joey's eyes suddenly snapped up to Seto's with a dare flashing through them and Seto's jaw tightened painfully. Oh, so this was now a game? I'll show you game, Seto thought wickedly as he absently fell into Joey's trap. "No we wouldn't, Wheeler," Seto agreed casually, before turning to his younger brother seriously. "Fine, I'll go. But it's because of you."</p><p>Mokuba squealed in delight, throwing his arms around Seto's waist happily before letting him go to beam up at him. "Thanks, big brother! You're the best!" he then spun around and ran for Joey, grabbing the blond's hand to pull him from the room. "Come on Joey!"</p><p>Seto eyed the blond as he was dragged out of his bedroom. "I don't know what game you're wanting to play, Wheeler. But just know I do intend to win it," he muttered to himself, never realizing that it would cause him to fall deeper into his denial.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Seto crossed his arms as he waited at the car for Joey, Mokuba, and Yugi to exit the palace, but was surprised to see Yami instead approach him.</p><p>"Don't tell me you were forced to come too?" Seto asked with a quirk of his dark eyebrow. Yami gave him a slight smirk, crossing his arms over his chest as he came to a stop in front of him.</p><p>"Of course not. I volunteered to go. Couldn't leave you to your own devices, now could I?" he teased the King with a quirk of an eyebrow. Seto rolled his eyes.</p><p>"It shouldn't be me that you lack trust in," Seto stated simply and Yami chuckled.</p><p>"Oh? Are you saying you don't trust Prince Wheeler?"</p><p>Seto snorted. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Especially after…" he dropped his sentence out of realizing he didn't need to indulge his spiky-haired guard on everything going on with him. He then adverted Yami's curious, penetrating gaze.</p><p>Finally, Rolland opened the doors to the palace as Mokuba ran past him towards Seto. The brunette was very thankful that the subject would have to be dropped. "We're ready!" the boy declared as he came to a stop in front of his brother, who strained a smile down at him for his enthusiasm. If the fact that Mokuba just wanted to spend time with him was true, Seto would give him that. He could admit with a guilty conscience that he'd been more worried about everything else, instead of hanging out with him. He'd have to make sure to set aside some time, so something like this wouldn't happen again.</p><p>Joey and Yugi walked down the steps after Rolland, whispering to each other discreetly. Seto's eyes narrowed at them silently. He was going to find out the underlying reasoning behind this if it was the last thing he did that day. As if on cue, Joey and Yugi both abruptly pulled away from each other as Joey gave Seto that smile. Seto tore his eyes from the warm brown tones, not wanting to get caught in them again, to see Yugi shyly blushing a bright red and his eyes down on the ground.</p><p>"What's wrong with you?" Seto questioned as Yami cleared his throat from beside him and Yugi glanced up at him before turning an even darker color of scarlet.</p><p>"Shall we go?" Yami's deep voice suddenly broke the awkward tension and they all filed into the large car giving each other weird looks.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Joey emerged from a dressing room, feeling very uncomfortable in tight-fitting black slacks and a long red coat. He refused to wear any other colors, as anything brighter – as per suggestion by Seto – made him feel out of place. However, the outfit he wore was apparently up to Seto's standards and he had only tried them on to get him to stop nagging at him over it.</p><p>"Well?" the blond asked the group sitting in the soft plush chairs in front of him, excluding Yugi was still in the dressing room trying on a different outfit. His honey-colored eyes roamed their faces: Mokuba was grinning as he swung his feet back and forth, Yami had his legs crossed and his pointed red eyes were distractedly glancing over at Yugi's dressing room (which ticked at Joey's anger), and Seto was staring at him silently with an impassive expression on his face with his arms crossed over his chest.</p><p>"Okay so it seems like Mokuba's the only one enthusiastic about this one and since I'm not about to wear anything a child prefers ("Hey!"), I'm changin'," Joey muttered before spinning back around to enter the dressing room, closing the door behind him grumpily.</p><p>Joey knew he needed to work this to his advantage but he wasn't sure how. He'd tried on everything that Seto had suggested and had gotten absolutely nothing out of him. The bastard wouldn't even blink. No, he needed the same kind of reaction that he'd gotten from him back in the bathroom –</p><p>"That's it," he whispered to himself, his eyes lighting up along with his cheeks. Stop thinking about your insecurities and do this, Joey. "Uh, Kaiba?" he hesitantly called out but didn't hear a reply. Joey's hands drew into fists as he gritted his teeth. "Can you please come to help me? I… these pants won't come off because they're too tight," he explained loudly, before closing his eyes tight, expecting an insult thrown his way. This better work, he threatened himself.</p><p>"Sounds like a personal problem," Seto's voice answered snidely and Joey could tell by the faraway sound of his voice that he hadn't even stood up from his chair.</p><p>"Asshole," he muttered under his breath with narrowed eyes. Taking a deep breath to control himself, Joey tried again. "I've tried, I don't want to rip them. Unless you want to pay for somethin' that's broken?" There ya go Joey, activate the money card.</p><p>"Go on Seto," Mokuba's innocent perceived suggestive voice sounded, making Joey smirk. This boy was amazing at getting his older brother to do things. "He needs your help."</p><p>"Then why don't you go help him," Seto argued and Joey could hear how uncomfortable he was with this situation. Good.</p><p>"Because I'm a kid, big brother. I shouldn't be looking at older boys in their underwear," Mokuba replied matter-of-factly to which Seto sighed dramatically.</p><p>"Yami, go help him," Seto barked at his guard and Joey rolled his eyes, leaning up against the wall of the dressing room. As if on cue, Yugi's small voice wrung out from the room beside him.</p><p>"Y-Yami? Can you zip this up for m-me?"</p><p>Joey threw his fist into his mouth to stop himself from busting out into laughter, his pride in his best friend swelling with appreciation. He couldn't even bring himself to be angry at the fact that Yami would be inside a dressing room alone with Yugi at this point.</p><p>"C-coming," Yami embarrassingly stuttered and Joey heard his footsteps approach before Yugi's dressing room door opened then shut.</p><p>Joey waited for Seto's response, but he had gone mute all of a sudden. He needed to get over himself. Yugi and Joey both were doing things that they didn't feel comfortable with, Seto could too.</p><p>Finally, as if Mokuba had given him those puppy dog eyes (which he probably had), Seto sighed with exasperation and Joey heard his footsteps, sending the blond's heart racing with anticipation. Joey shrugged his coat off and threw it behind him carelessly, before unlocking the door.</p><p>Seto opened the door reluctantly and averted the blond's eyes as he closed the door behind him. Joey suddenly realized how small the dressing room was with Seto's tall frame inside. He then began to feel nervous and his hands began sweating. "Hi," Joey stupidly said, making Seto give him an inquisitive look, making his cheeks burn. So. Awkward.</p><p>"Well? Let's get this over with," Seto stated gruffly, grabbing Joey unexpectedly by the arms and pushing him against the back wall.</p><p>Joey's eyes widened into large circles with a gasp and then got wider as Seto dropped to his knees in front of him. Oh s-shit, Joey inwardly stuttered. He was positive that his cheeks were as red as the coat under his feet at this point, especially when Seto's hands grabbed the sides of the pants. His stomach lurched at the touch unwillingly and his eyes stared down with disbelief at the stoic faced man tugging down his slacks. Of course, he showed no emotion whatsoever, until he hesitantly looked upwards and his mouth curved upwards into a wicked smirk.</p><p>Joey's heart jumped into his throat at the look as he didn't know how to react to any of this. The plan had completely backfired and he didn't understand why or how. Heat traveled up from his legs to his groin as Seto's hands moved treacherously over his thighs, making Joey shift uneasily underneath him.</p><p>"You think you can toy with me and get it away with it, Wheeler?" Seto muttered low in his throat, catching the blond off guard by his words and how he spoke them. Was he referring to the night before at dinner? Joey wasn't sure but somehow he quickly felt like he had been caught.</p><p>He couldn't let Seto think that though. Not with everything on the line like this.</p><p>Gritting his teeth harshly, trying to stop his body from reacting the way it was to Seto's expert hands steadily getting closer to the formation that was producing in the slightly pulled down slacks, Joey attempted to snap out of it. "I don't know what you're talkin' about," he attempted to retort innocently.</p><p>Seto's blue eyes flashed silver at his denial and Joey shuddered uncontrollably as a hand brushed against him by accident. The brunette before him lips curled into a sneer before he grabbed Joey's pants and shoved them down his legs swiftly before releasing him and standing up straight, his face mere inches from Joey's as their eyes captivated one another's.</p><p>"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Seto murmured dangerously, his warm breath caressing the blond's face and neck as Joey apprehended how unsettled he was of this voice than the hostile ones he'd heard before.</p><p>Before Joey could process any of it, Seto was out of the dressing room and Joey was against the wall with the pants around his ankles wearing nothing but his black pair of boxers as he panted breathlessly in disbelief. What. Just. Happened.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>Meanwhile, in Yugi's dressing room, Yugi was also pressed against the wall but had done so of his own doing to get away from the burning crimson eyes of Yami. He'd asked him to come in there to keep Seto from backing out of helping Joey, for their plans to succeed, but he'd acted rashly and hadn't thought of what it would mean when Yami was in there alone with him. His heartbeat was wildly pounding against his bare chest as his face was as red as a tomato, his eyes wider than they'd ever been.</p><p>"You needed my help?" Yami questioned him in a low voice, sending spontaneous shivers to run over Yugi's skin.</p><p>"I… no – I just," Yugi cursed himself inside his mind at the lack of ability to get words out correctly in front of the guard. He wasn't even sure why he was reacting so violently towards him.</p><p>"Wanted King Seto to help Prince Wheeler?" Yami helped, comprehending the scenario thankfully so Yugi didn't need to use words to answer, so instead he just hastily nodded.</p><p>His purple eyes darted to his shirt at Yami's feet, wishing he'd thought to put it on before the guard had come inside. Now he was half-naked in front of a man who was so obviously attracted to him. Yugi hadn't even thought about his sexual orientation before but had never ruled it out that he'd be attracted to men. He'd been attracted to pretty girls before but nothing had ever come of it because of how shy he was. That had carried over to how he dealt with handsome males as well. Especially tan, red-eyed males.</p><p>Yami followed Yugi's trail of eyes, before smirking. "You're small to be Joey's age," Yami commented simply, his eyes gradually sliding down the boy's slim bare chest that didn't even have hairs upon it.</p><p>Yugi's eyes narrowed a little at Yami, not appreciating what he'd said. Of course, he knew he was small to be eighteen. His family had all been as small as he was, so genetically he was too. He'd been insecure about it for years, especially when it came to being around nice-looking girls who preferred muscular taller men like Joey or Tristan. He'd even though he had accepted himself more now that he was older, however when Yami had mentioned it, it had thrown him backward and retracting.</p><p>Suddenly, his face was redder from irritation than it was from embarrassment. "So?" he couldn't help but snap, before immediately regretting it when Yami's eyes flashed to his. A look of surprise washed over Yami's pointed features before he took a step towards Yugi, making the smaller boy press even closer to the wall.</p><p>"I was just pointing out a curious detail, is all Yugi. There's no need to be defensive about it," Yami explained in a softer voice and Yugi stared at him silently, not knowing how to take this sudden turn of events. What had he been expecting? Yami to eat him or something?</p><p>"I — oh," Yugi relented, his shoulders slumping a little when he realized he'd been a bit rude to the guard. His eyes lowered timidly. "I thought you were making fun of me."</p><p>"I'd hardly make fun of something I find appealing."</p><p>Yugi's head snapped up to meet Yami's eyes but lowered a little to see a slight blush on the guard's cheeks. A blush. Suddenly, Yugi felt a bit foolish, and yet he didn't know how to respond as his mouth went slack and his eyes rose again to meet the curious red of Yami.</p><p>After a moment of silence, Yami cleared his throat. "I… think that I should go on back out," he stated and Yugi blinked owlishly before remembering where he was and gave a nod.</p><p>Yami smiled at the boy before turning the knob. "By the way Yugi, the dark blue slacks look very nice on you," he replied, flashing a smirk over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.</p><p>Yugi immediately lit back up and looked down at the pants he was wearing. He was settling on them then.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>After returning home a couple of hours later, Rolland and Yami held two large bags to set away in the boys from Ghaffar's rooms. Mokuba, Seto, Joey, and Yugi entered the palace to find Kisara sitting on the bottom stair with her head in her hands. Seto frowned to himself before approaching her, while the other three exchanged looks between themselves. Whatever was wrong with her wouldn't be good for their plans.</p><p>"Lunch will be in just a moment," Rolland stated as he slipped past them all to follow Yami up the staircase and Joey couldn't even bring himself to acknowledge his stomach growl rebelliously as his eyes held firm to the white-haired girl and the brunette.</p><p>"Kisara? Are you all right?" Joey's face screwed up into a mask of distaste at the softness Seto spoke with.</p><p>The three in the middle of the parlor room watched on as Kisara lifted her head to meet Seto's eyes before sniffing a little. "Oh, Seto… I'm just so anxious," she said, sounding like she'd just got done sobbing her heart out as her hands grabbed Setos. Joey gritted his teeth when Seto didn't pull away.</p><p>"Why do you feel anxious?" he asked instead. Kisara's eyes then slid to meet Joey's before she hiccupped dramatically, returning her gaze to Seto's.</p><p>"C-can we speak in private please?" her soft voice carried over to the three and Seto nodded before helping her to stand. He turned slightly to acknowledge them, his face showing no emotion at all – as usual, and pissing Joey off again. However, the blond attempted to keep himself composed. It would do no one good if he lost his cool all of a sudden.</p><p>"You all go on ahead and eat without me," Seto stated before turning and leading Kisara up the stairs, to which Joey assumed would be his bedroom. When they were out of earshot, Joey flew off the handle.</p><p>"What the fuck?!" he shouted, not even caring that a small child was beside him. He then began pacing as he grabbed at his hair maddeningly. "How does she have such a hold on him? I thought we were accomplishing something by doing this? But it doesn't even seem to be working as well as I thought it had been!" He then went on to curse incoherently under his breath.</p><p>Mokuba lowered his eyes with disappointment and Yugi placed a comforting hand on the boy. "I know it doesn't look good, but I don't think we should give up just yet," he told both Mokuba and Joey seriously. "She might not be acting this time guys, something might be upsetting her. We don't know for sure."</p><p>Joey threw his hands up with vexation before kicking one of the many marble statues in the parlor room, wishing it was either Kisara or Seto's head. After what had happened in the dressing room, and the heated (and suspicious) glances that he'd received from the brunette while they shopped around, Joey had been positive that he'd be kicking out Kisara by tomorrow night. Now, however, that hope was lost.</p><p>Pain shot up his leg from the kick and he growled out, before slamming himself up against the wall and sliding down it to throw his arms over his bent knees, his head lowering with his hair covering his angry red face.</p><p>Yugi and Mokuba approached their blond friend, both looking sympathetic. Yugi tried again. "Look Joey, I know it would be easy to give up but you can't, okay?"</p><p>Mokuba took a deep breath and nodded. "Yugi's right, Joey. We can't give up now."</p><p>Joey seemed like he was ignoring them but he was letting their words sink in silence while he tried to control his temper.</p><p>"I think we should kick it up a notch," Yugi replied suggestively and that caught Joey's full attention as his head snapped up to look at his spiky-haired friend. Mokuba looked at Yugi curiously. A small blush spread over Yugi's cheeks but he continued anyway. "Well, what I was thinking was: Joey has been doing things without Kisara in the room. Now that we know how Seto reacts to Joey's advances, we can have Joey do things in front of Kisara. Maybe it will make her realize that Seto isn't as interested in her as she seems to think."</p><p>Mokuba blinked before a mischievous smile spread over his small round face as Joey stared at his friend thoughtfully, hope washing back over him. "You're so totally right Yugi!" Mokuba gushed, patting the boy on his back with admiration. "Then that's what we'll – I mean, Joey has to do. Go for the kill Joey!"</p><p>Yugi gave Mokuba a small smile before meeting Joey's eyes again. "What do you say?" he asked warily when Joey didn't say anything.</p><p>Joey then nodded after a moment's pause. "All right, I do my best," Joey relented before returning the smile the two in front of him gave him.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>"What are you saying Kisara?" Seto asked her seriously from his seat on his bed, his blue eyes staring at her as if trying to penetrate her mind. Kisara looked down at the ground helplessly. "I didn't even know you had a brother."</p><p>Kisara's pale shoulders collapsed miserably. "I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about him, Seto. My father made me swear on the throne when I was younger. Trust me, if I had been able to, I would have told you first. Let alone, agree to you meeting him." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before raising her eyes to his uncertainly as his face was blank. "I'm sure you're wondering why he was made to kept a secret."</p><p>Seto didn't feel the need to answer her since she already knew what he was thinking and so she sighed again at his silence. "Ryou, which is his name, was conceived without my father knowing. My mother had an affair behind his back with the excuse that he wasn't ever around to give her what she needed. She was caught by my father one night, foolishly too. She'd snuck the man into their bed and my father was enraged. He put the man in prison for some off the wall reason and just about threw my mother in there too, but then we found out she was pregnant. My father, too proud to let the public know he had been neglecting his wife, refused to make it known. So my mother was sent to live on the other side of the palace and give birth to Ryou… that was why she died, Seto. She died in childbirth, there was no way to save her," her voice caught over a lump of emotion and Seto continued to stare at her patiently until she was finished explaining.</p><p>"I-I told you that she died because she was sick with some weird illness because that was what my father made me tell you and everyone. Ryou was raised by a secret maid in the palace and was never once let to show his face. I often went to see him, since he was my brother, and we knew each other as siblings. I explained to him what had happened and I knew that it upset him, but there was nothing I could do. And then when he got older, my father made him become a guard – because he was not of true royal blood, his blood. I watched out for him though, knowing he wasn't fit to be a true guard and assigned him to be my guard to make sure nothing could harm him. So when I came here, I brought him with me.</p><p>And then your stupid guard suddenly became interested in him and got suspicious. He made Ryou scared and Ryou t-told him the truth to make him stop," Kisara concluded before crying again. Seto let his eyes drift away from her, remembering what Bakura had said before in the sitting room. He'd mentioned that Ryou had been very small in stature and a helpless excuse as a guard. Bakura had been suspicious and had been for good reason.</p><p>"Bakura won't say anything if I ask him not to," Seto defended his friend. "I trust him with my life and I would also trust him with your brothers, especially because I understand how he feels about Ryou."</p><p>Kisara lifted her head to look at Seto in stunned belief. "How he… feels? It's obvious that he doesn't feel anything towards my brother!" she bit off and Seto's eyes sharply met hers, not appreciating her tone of voice with him which she kindly softened to continue. "I mean, he made Ryou terrified. He told me he's been stalking him since we got here with some weird interest to humiliate him. Ryou's even sleeping in your barn because of him! He's bullying my brother. Ryou's been through enough and he doesn't need this."</p><p>Seto rolled his eyes at Kisara, making her narrow her eyes. "Why aren't you taking this seriously?" she demanded and the brunette snorted.</p><p>"Let me break this to you gently, Kisara. Bakura isn't harassing him to make Ryou scared of him. It's completely the opposite. Bakura's 'weird interest' is the fact that he's interested in Ryou," Seto retorted and then smirked at the horrified look Kisara responded with.</p><p>"Well, it's obvious Ryou doesn't return those feelings!" Kisara defended her brother with fierce blue eyes and Seto's eyebrows raised.</p><p>"And how would you know? Have you asked him?" Seto questioned casually and Kisara's hesitancy to reply gave him his answer. "Okay. Perhaps you should then, whatever. I don't care. Just know this: I'll inform Bakura to keep this new piece of information to himself for both your sake and Ryou's."</p><p>Kisara looked like she wanted to argue but ultimately decided against it and nodded. "Thank you, Seto. You're doing my whole family a favor."</p><p>"Yes, well, you'll be doing me a favor by coming with me to lunch so my stomach doesn't eat itself," Seto stated as he stood up to which Kisara giggled at, before grabbing his arm as he led her from his bedroom to go down to the dining room.</p><p>Upon entering the dining room, Seto didn't pick up on the atmosphere too quickly. However, he did catch the full out glare that Joey gave Kisara as she released Seto's arm to seat herself down at the table. A small pleased smirk lifted his lips and he sat down pleasantly to eat lunch. None of them had eaten breakfast and so they were all starving.</p><p>And it was that hunger that distracted him from seeing the bigger picture. That is until Joey took his hand that was resting next to his plate. Seto paused mid-chew, his eyes lifting to stare at his hand that was suddenly engulfed with warm skin before sliding up to Joey's infuriatingly nonchalant face. Warm little tingles spread up over Seto's arm that was connected to the hand under the blond's, making his breathing speed up just a little, and words completely disappear.</p><p>He had no witty remark to make. No snide comment. Nothing. The only thing he could focus on was the fact that Joey had his hand on his. And just as suddenly, the dressing room occurrence flooded back to him, making his whole body heat under the touch. Seto honestly had no explanation for what had happened in there. The challenge that had been in Joey's eyes had compelled him to be victorious over it. However, it hadn't left him unaffected. He had been just as stimulated as Joey had seemed to be.</p><p>A light clearing of a throat caught Seto's attention momentarily and his eyes darted upwards to see Kisara frowning darkly down at her plate with unease and annoyance. It was then that he realized just what Joey was doing. He was attempting to make Kisara jealous. With this new revelation, Seto knew what he must do. Get revenge. That had seemed to make him stop all intentions the last time.</p><p>So, with that in mind, Seto interlaced the boy's fingers with his own and he felt Joey stiffen from the reciprocation before hesitating to relax. Not expecting that Joey? Interesting.</p><p>"So Mokuba, ready to go back to school tomorrow?" Seto finally broke the silence, as if nothing was going on between him and Joey.</p><p>Mokuba looked up from staring at the entwined hands to give Seto a wide-eyed look from being startled. "I uh, yeah. Can't wait," Mokuba replied wobbly with a small upturn of his lips.</p><p>Joey then ran his thumb over Seto's wrist, causing the brunette to become distracted from the conversation for a second. His breath hitched in his chest and he willed himself to not look in Joey or Kisara's direction. He wouldn't be able to handle the situation if he did so.</p><p>"Are you sure about that?" He attempted to give Mokuba a stern pointed look, thanking himself for being able to speak clearly as Joey continued to caress him with his thumb.</p><p>Mokuba's eyes darted to their hands again, annoying Seto slightly, before he gave a small nod. "Uh hunh."</p><p>Seto then decided to turn the tables, growing tired of Joey having the upper hand. His foot slowly made its way over to Joey's and slid upwards over the boy's leg. A small barely audible gasp from beside him had him smirking faintly to himself while keeping the conversation flowing with his younger brother, his blue eyes never leaving the uncomfortable stormy gray.</p><p>"Interesting, Mokuba. I'm quite sure you don't like school at all," he replied with a quirk of his eyebrow and Mokuba blushed under his gaze.</p><p>The moment of victory didn't last long, as Joey and himself were dueling silently at the table, and the blond moved his leg that was being violated by Seto to spread his legs, causing Seto's foot to brush the inside of Joey's thigh all of a sudden. Heat engulfed Seto immediately and a small blush formed on his cheeks that he shifted his hair with a small shake of his head to hide.</p><p>"I-I know. But I'm getting a new perspective on it," Mokuba stuttered before giving his brother an over-enthusiastic grin but despite Seto's eyes being trained on Mokuba, he wasn't paying the least bit of attention. No, his focus was more on the fact that his foot was in between Joey's spread legs.</p><p>Swallowing down a lump in his dry mouth, Seto attempted to take Joey off guard by moving his foot over the blond's thigh suggestively. However, it quickly was backfired as Joey released Seto's hand to plunge it underneath the table to grab the brunette's foot before it could reach its prize.</p><p>At that, Seto finally looked over at Joey who had his blush on his cheeks and his eyes were downcast as if trying to concentrate on his breathing. Daringly so, he glanced over at Kisara who now was staring at them with a steel-like glare that even made Seto uncomfortable. This had gotten out of hand, he realized and he removed his foot from Joey but was shocked when Joey didn't release it so he could. Their eyes locked together and it honestly felt like they were the only ones in the room at that moment, the conversation with Mokuba completely forgotten. Joey's hand ran up underneath Seto's pant leg, caressing his calf while his eyes told him things he most likely never hear from the blond's mouth. But that didn't matter, as he was positive his mouth could do a lot of other things. It took everything Seto had to stop himself from jumping over the table to pounce on him.</p><p>Wait a second, what the hell's the matter with me? I'm not gay.</p><p>"Enough!" Seto unexpectedly blurted out and everyone at the table jumped at his outburst. Joey instantly let go of his leg and Seto sat it down while simultaneously standing from his seat, glaring down at Joey with everything he had. The brown eyes stared back up at him with the heat still in the depths of them and it unsettled Seto the way it made him feel. "E-enough," he repeated more quietly, obviously speaking with Joey only. The warmth disappeared then, replaced by cold anger. That was more like it.</p><p>"Seto? Are you okay?" Mokuba's hesitant and worried voice broke Seto's determination to get through to Joey and he blinked, looking over at his brother as if suddenly realizing he'd been there the whole time.</p><p>"I'm fine, I just… need some air," he said lamely without even thinking before exiting the dining room.</p><p>oO0Oo</p><p>"What the hell did you do to him?" Kisara pointedly accused Joey with venom in her voice and eyes. By this point, Joey was fuming from Seto's rejection and he stood up from his chair to glower down at the girl.</p><p>"What did I do to him? What are you even still doing here!" he yelled across the table and Kisara stood up as a flash of silver crossed her blue eyes.</p><p>"Yes, what did you do to him?! It was obvious you made him angry! And I could say the same about you, Wheeler! You hate Seto, so why are you still here?" Kisara retorted while her cheeks blushed over as Yugi fearfully moved away from her for the second time.</p><p>"I'm <em>engaged</em> to him!" Joey answered, enraged at her impertinence. "That's more than what you can say."</p><p>Kisara's hands slammed onto the table furiously. "Oh don't act like that's even a good enough excuse," she said snidely, "I know as much as anyone here that you don't want to be engaged to him. You'd rather run back home to your stupid little village than marry Seto!” </p><p>At the mention of his kingdom, Joey lost it and he launched himself over the table to strangle Kisara, sending dishes and silverware to the ground in his wake.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!</p><p>This story is on a brief hiatus due to recent personal events as well as the completion of another story that came before this one. With Your Love will be back soon!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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